"If 


0 


r 


THE 


OF 


CHARLES  THE  TWELFTH, 
SING  OF  SWEDEN. 


BY  M.  DE  VOLTAIRE. 


A.  JfEW  TRANSLATION,  FROM  THE  LAST  PARIS  EDITIOar. 


HARTFORD,  Ct. 

°UBLISHED  BY  ANDKUS  AND  JUDD. 


1833. 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2014 


https://archive.org/details/historyofcharles01volt 


BOOK  I. 

An  abridgment  of  the  History  of  Sweden,  to  the  reign  of  Charles  XII. — 
His  education.— His  enemies. — Character  of  Czar  Peter  Alexiowitz. 
— Curious  anecdotes  relative  to  that  prince  and  the  Russian  nation. — 
Muscovy,  Poland,  and  Denmark,  unite  against  Charles.  15 

BOOK  II. 

A  remarkable  and  unexpected  change  in  the  character  of  Charles. — At 
the  age  of  eighteen  he  engages  in  a  war  against  Denmark,  Poland,  and 
Muscovy. — Finishes  that  with  Denmark  in  six  weeks. — Defeats  eighty 
thousand  Russians,  with  only  eight  thousand  Swedes. — Marches  into 
Poland.— A  description  of  Poland  and  its  government. — Charles  gains 
many  battles,  and  becomes  master  of  Poland,  where  he  prepares  to 
appoint  a  king.  40 

BOOK  III. 

Stanislaus  Leczinsky  elected  king  of  Poland. — Death  of  the  cardinal 
primate. — Skilful  retreat  of  General  Schulembourg. — Exploits  of  the 
czar. — Foundation  of  Petersburgh. — Battle  of  Frauenstad. — Charles 
enters  Saxony. — Peace  of  Altranstad. — Augustus  abdicates  the  crown 
in  favour  of  Stanislaus. — General  Patkul,  the  czar's  plenipotentiary,  is 
broke  upon  the  wheel,  and  quartered. — Charles  receives  the  ambassa- 
dors of  foreign  princes. — Visits  Augustus.  83 

BOOK  IV. 

Charles  quits  Saxony. — Pursues  the  czar. — Penetrates  into  the  Ukraine. 
— His  losses. — Is  wounded. — The  battle  of  Pultowa. — Consequences 
of  that  battle. — Charles  is  forced  to  fly  into  Turkey. — His  reception  in 
Bessarabia.  120 

BOOK  V. 

State  of  the  Ottoman  Porte. — Charles  takes  up  his  abode  near  Bender. — 
His  employments. — His  intrigues  at  the  Porte. — His  designs. — Augus- 
tus regains  his  throne. — The  king  of  Denmark  makes  a  descent  upon 
Sweden. — All  the  other  dominions  of  Charles  are  attacked. — The  czar 
enters  Moscow  in  triumph. — The  affair  of  Pruth. — History  of  the 
czarina,  who,  from  a  peasant,  became  an  empress.  149 

BOOK  VI. 

Intrigues  at  the  Ottoman  Porte.— The  kam  of  Tartary  and  the  pacha  of 
Bender  endeavour  to  force  Charles  to  depart.— He  defends  himself 
with  forty  domestics  against  a  whole  army. — Is  taken  and  treated  as  a 
prisoner.  »  lg2 


4 


CONTENTS. 


book  vn. 

The  Turks  convey  Charles  toDemirtash. — King  Stanislaus  taken  thither 
at  the  same  time. — The  bold  action  of  M.  de  Villelongue. — Revolutions 
in  the  seraglio. — Battle  in  Pomerania. — Altena  burnt  by  the  Swedes. 
—Charles  sets  out  on  his  return  to  his  own  dominions. — His 
strange  manner  of  travelling. — His  arrival  at'  Stralsund. — His  mis- 
fortunes.— Successes  of  Peter  the  Great. — His  triumphant  entry  into 
Petersburgh.  210 

BOOK  VIII. 

Charles  gives  his  sister  in  marriage  to  the  prince  of  Hesse. — Is  besieged 
at  Stralsund,  and  escapes  to  Sweden. — Enterprise  of  Baron  de  Gortz, 
his  prime  minister. — Plan  of  a  reconciliation  with  the  czar,  and  of  a 
descent  upon  England. — Charles  besieges  Frederickshall,  in  Norway. 
«— Is  killed. — His  character. — Gortz  is  beheaded.  241 


PREFACE 

TO  THE 

EDITION  die  MACCE. 


Incredulity,  says  Aristotle,  is  the  source  of  all  wisdom* 
This  maxim  is  exceedingly  proper  for  all  who  read  history, 
and  ancient  history  in  particular. 

How  many  absurd  facts!  How  many  fables  shocking 
to  common  sense!  What  then?  Do  not  believe  a  word  of 
them. 

There  were  kings,  consuls,  and  decemvirs  in  Rome  ;  the 
Roman  people  destroyed  Carthage;  Caesar  conquered  P o ra- 
pe y  ;  these  are  all  truths  :  but  when  you  are  told  that  Castor 
and  Pollux  fought  for  them ;  that  a  vestal  with  her  girdle 
set  afloat  a  stranded  vessel ;  that  an  abyss  closed  as  soon  as 
Curtius  had  thrown  himself  into  it — do  not  believe  a  word  of 
it.  You  read  every  where  of  prodigies;  of  predictions  ac- 
complished; and  of  miraculous  cures  performed  in  the  tem- 
ples of  Esculapius — do  not  believe  a  word  of  them..  But  a 
hundred  witnesses  have  signed  the  verbal  process  of  these 
miracles  upon  brazen  tables!  and  the  temples  were  filled 
with  votive  tablets  which  attest  the  Cures  ! 

Believe  they  were  fools  and  knaves  who  attested  what 
they  never  saw  ;  believe  they  were  devotees  who  made  pre- 
sents to  the  priests  of  Esculapius  as  often  as  their  children 
were  cured  of  a  cold;  but  of  the  miracles  of  this  god,  do  not 
believe  one  word. 

But  the  Egyptian  priests  were  all  sorcerers,  and  Herodotus 
admires  their  profound  science  in  Demonism  !  Do  not  be- 
lieve a  word  of  it.  Herodotus  had  his  information  from  their 
own  mouths. 

I  shall  always  distrust  whatever  is  marvellous;  but  ought 
I  to  carry  my  incredulity  so  far  as  to  doubt  facts,  which  are 
in  the  common  order  of  human  events,  because  they  are  de- 
ficient in  moral  probability  ?  For  example,  Plutarch  assures 
us,  that  Caesar  in  complete  armour  threw  himself  into  the  sea 
of  Alexandria,  holding  in  the  air,  with  one  hand,  papers 


6 


PREFACE  TO  THE 


which  he  wished  to  keep  dry,  and  swimming  with  the  other. 
Do  not  believe  a  word  of  this  story  of  Plutarch's ;  rather  be- 
lieve Caesar  himself,  who  says  not  a  word  of  it  in  his  Com- 
mentaries ;  and  be  sure  that  when  a  person  throws  himself 
into  the  sea,  and  has  papers  in  his  hand,  that  he  will  wet 
them. 

You  will  find  in  Quintus  Curtius,  that  Alexander  and  his . 
generals  were  perfectly  astonished  when  they  beheld  the  flux 
and  reflux  of  the  ocean,  which  they  did  not  expect.  Don't 
believe  a  word  of  it.  It  is  exceedingly  probable  that  Alex- 
ander, when  he  was  drunk,  killed  Clytus ;  that  he  loved  He- 
phestion  as  Socrates  did  Alcibiades  :  but  it  is  not  at  all  likely 
that  the  pupil  of  Aristotle  should  be  ignorant  of  the  flux  and 
reflux  of  the  ocean.  There  were  philosophers  in  his  army ; 
it  was  sufficient  to  have  been  upon  the  Euphrates,  at  the 
mouth  of  which  there  are  tides,  to  have  been  acquainted  with 
this  phenomenon.  Alexander  had  travelled  in  Africa,  the 
coasts  of  which  are  washed  by  the  ocean.  Could  his  admiral, 
Nearchus,  be  so  ignorant  as  not  to  know  what  was  known  to 
every  child  upon  the  banks  of  the  river  Indus  ?  Such  non- 
sense repeated  by  so  many  writers  throws  too  much  discredit 
upon  historians. 

Father  Maimbourg  copies  from  a  hundred  other  writers, 
a  story  of  two  Jews  having  promised  the  empire  to  Leo  Isau- 
ricus,  upon  condition  that  when  he  was  emperor,  he  should 
pull  down  the  images.  What  interest  had  these  two  Jews 
to  hinder  Christians  from  having  pictures?  How  could  these 
two  wretches  promise  the  empire  ?  Is  it  not  insulting  the 
reader  to  present  him  with  such  fables  ? 

It  must  be  allowed  that  Mezeray,  in  his  hard,  low  and  un- 
equal manner,  together  with  ill-digested  facts,  relates  many 
absurdities  as  great  as  those  we  have  mentioned.  He  tells 
us  that  Henry  Vth  of  England,  who  was  crowned  king  of 
France  at  Paris,  died  of  the  piles  for  having  sat  down  upon 
the  throne  of  our  kings ;  and  gravely  relates  the  appearance 
of  St.  Michael  to  Joan  of  Arc. 

I  do  not  even  believe  ocular  witnesses  when  they  tell  me 
things  repugnant  to  common  sense.  The  Sieurde  Joinville, 
or  rather  his  translator,  assures  me  in  vain  that  the  Emirs  of 
Egypt,  after  having  assassinated  their  Sultan,  offered  the 
crov.  n  to  St.  Louis  their  prisoner.  I  could  as  soon  believe 
that  we  had  offered  the  crown  of  France  to  a  Turk.  What 
probability  is  there,  that  the  Mahometans  should  have  thought 
of  making  that  man  their  sovereign,  whom  they  could  not 


EDITION  OF  MDCCL. 


7 


consider  in  any  other  light  than  as  a  leader  of  barbarians  whom 
they  had  taken  in  battle,  that  could  not  be  acquainted  with 
their  laws  or  their  language,  and  who  was  the  capital  enemy 
of  their  religion  ?  Nor  can  I  give  him  greater  credit,  when  he 
tells  us,  that  the  Nile  overflowed  at  the  feast  of  Saint  Remy 
in  the  beginning  of  October.  I  shall  dispute  with  equal  bold- 
ness the  history  of  the  Old  Man  of  the  Mountain,  who,  upon 
the  news  of  St.  .<  uis's  crusade,  despatched  two  assassins  to 
kill  him,  and  next  day,  upon  hearing  of  his  virtue,  sent  off 
two  couriers  to  countermand  them.  This  has  too  much  the 
air  of  an  Arabian  tale. 

There  is  nothing  certainly  more  probable  than  that  crimes 
have  been  committed,  but  none  should  be  related  that  can- 
not be  proved.  We  find  in  Mezeray,  accounts  of  more  than 
sixty  princes  "  who  have  swallowed  a  mouthful  but 
he  adduces  no  proof,  and  a  popular  report  should  only  be 
held  as  a  report. 

I  will  not  believe  even  Livy,  when  he  tells  me  that  Pyr- 
rhus's  physician  offered  to  the  Romans  to  poison  his  master 
for  a  bribe.  The  Romans  had  scarce  begun  to  coin  money, 
and  Pyrrhus  could  have  bought  the  republic,  if  it  would  have 
set  itself  to  sale.  The  place  of  first  physician  to  Pyrrhus 
was  probably  more  lucrative  than  that  of  consul.  I  will  not 
believe  this  story,  till  it  has  been  proved  to  me  that  some  first 
physician  of  one  of  our  kings  has  asked  one  of  the  Swiss 
cantons  to  pay  him  for  poisoning  his  patient. 

Let  us  equally  mistrust  whatever  appears  exaggerated. 
An  innumerable  army  of  Persians  impeded  by  three  hundred 
Spartans  at  the  pass  of  Thermopylae,  does  not  stagger  my 
belief.  The  nature  and  disposition  of  the  country  render 
such  an  event  credible.  That  Charles  XII.,  with  eight 
thousand  veterans,  defeated  at  Narva  about  four  score  thou- 
sand ill  armed  Muscovite  peasants,  though  it  astonishes  me, 
yet  I  believe  it ;  but  when  I  read  that  Symon  de  Montfort, 
with  nine  hundred  soldiers  in  three  bodies,  routed  an  army  of 
a  hundred  thousand  men,  I  must  loudly  express  my  infi- 
delity. I  am  told  it  is  a  miracle ;  but  is  it  likely  that  God  has 
worked  this  miracle  for  Symon  de  Montfort  ? 

I  should  doubtless  call  in  question  the  combat  of  Charles 
XII.  at  Bender,  but  that  the  truth  of  it  has  been  attested  to 
me  by  several  ocular  witnesses,  and  the  character  of  Charles 
XII.  renders  probable  this  heroical  extravagance.  This  mis- 
trust which  we  ought  to  entertain  for  particular  facts,  let  us 
exercise  also  in  regard  to  the  manners  of  foreign  nations* 


8 


PREFACE  TO  THE 


Let  us  refuse  our  confidence  to  every  historian,  ancient  and 
modern,  who  relates  to  us  things  contrary  to  the  nature  and 
turn  of  the  human  heart. 

All  the  first  accounts  of  America  talked  only  of  man-eaters 
It  seemed,  according  to  them,  that  the  Americans  eat  men 
as  commonly  as  we  do  sheep.  This  fact,  better  ascertained, 
dwindles  into  a  small  number  of  prisoners  who  have  been  de- 
voured by  their  conquerors  instead  of  the  worms. 

The  ancients,  and  their  innumerable  and  credulous  com- 
pilers, repeat  to  us  incessantly,  that  at  Babylon,  the  best  po- 
liced city  in  the  universe,  all  the  women  and  girls  prostitu- 
ted themselves  once  a  year  in  the  temple  of  Venus.  I  have 
no  difficulty  in  believing,  that  at  Babylon,  as  well  as  else- 
where, pleasure  was  to  be  purchased  with  money ;  but  I 
can  never  persuade  myself,  that  in  the  best  policed  city  which 
was  then  in  the  universe,  every  father  and  every  husband 
should  send  his  wife  and  his  daughters  to  a  market  of  public 
prostitution,  and  that  legislators  should  command  this  extra- 
ordinary commerce.  Every  day  a  thousand  equal  absurdi- 
ties are  published  respecting  the  manners  of  the  east ;  and, 
for  one  traveller  like  Chardin,  how  many  have  we  like  Paul 
Lucas  ! 

A  Greek  monk,  a  Latin  monk,  writes,  that  Mahomet  the 
Second  delivered  the  city  of  Constantinople  over  to  pillage, 
that  he  broke  with  his  own  hand  the  images  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  that  he  turned  all  the  churches  into  mosques.  To  ren- 
der this  conqueror  more  hateful,  they  add,  that  he  cut  off  the 
head  of  his  mistress  to  please  his  janissaries,  and  that  he  cut 
up  the  bellies  of  fourteen  of  his  pages  to  find  which  of  them 
had  eaten  a  melon.  A  hundred  historians  copy  these  miser- 
able fables,  and  the  dictionaries  of  Europe  repeat  them. 
Consult  the  real  annals  of  Turkey,  compiled  by  Prince  Can- 
temia,  you  will  see  how  ridiculous  are  all  these  lies.  You 
will  learn  that  the  great  Mahomet  the  second,  having  taken 
one  half  of  the  city  of  Constantinople  by  assault,  deigned  to 
capitulate  with  the  other,  and  preserved  the  churches ;  that 
he  created  a  Greek  patriarch,  to  whom  he  granted  greater 
honours  than  the  Greek  emperors  had  ever  given  to  the  pre- 
decessors of  that  bishop.  In  short,  consult  common  sense, 
and  you  will  judge  how  ridiculous  it  is  to  suppose  that  a 
great  monarch,  learned,  and  even  polite  as  Mahomet  the 
Second  was,  should  eviscerate  fourteen  pages  for  a  melon; 
and  if  you  are  ever  so  little  informed  of  the  manners  of  the 
Turks,  you  will  see  how  extravagant  it  is  to  imagine  that  the 


EDITION  OF  MDCCL. 


9 


soldiers  should  concern  themselves  with  what  passes  be- 
tween the  sultan  and  his  women,  and  that  an  emperor 
should  cut  off  the  head  of  his  favourite  to  please  them. 
It  is  thus,  however,  that  the  greater  part  of  history  is 
written. 

It  is  not  so  with  the  history  of  Charles  XII.  I  can  affirm, 
that  if  ever  any  history  was  entitled  to  belief,  this  is.  I  com- 
posed it  originally  (as  is  known)  from  the  memoirs  of  Mons. 
Fabricius,  of  Messrs.  de  Fierville  and  de  Villelongue,  and 
from  the  testimony  of  many  ocular  witnesses.  But  as  wit- 
nesses do  not  see  all,  and  as  sometimes  they  see  wrong,  I 
fell  into  more  than  one  mistake,  not  only  with  regard  to  ma- 
terial facts,  but  also  in  the  relation  of  some  anecdotes,  which 
in  themselves  are  indifferent,  but  which  furnish  matter  of 
triumph  to  contemptible  critics. 

I  have  even  made  use  of  the  history  written  by  Norberg, 
chaplain  and  confessor  to  Charles  XII.,  although  it  is  a  work 
very  ill  digested  and  very  ill  written,  replete  with  trifling 
facts  foreign  to  the  subject,  and  which  sets  the  most  impor- 
tant events  in  the  most  trilling  light.  It  is  in  fact  a  mere 
tissue  of  rescripts,  declarations,  and  publications  which  are 
usually  made  in  the  name  of  kings  when  they  are  at  war, 
but  which  never  serve  to  lay  open  the  true  state  of  affairs. 
They  are  useless  to  the  politician  and  the  soldier,  and  tire- 
some to  the  reader.  A  writer  may  consult  them  sometimes 
only  in  a  case  of  necessity,  for  information,  just  as  an  archi- 
tect may  employ  the  old  rubbish  in  a  building. 

Among  the  public  pieces  with  which  Norberg  has  loaded 
his  wretched  history,  there  are  to  be  found  many  which  are 
suppositious  and  absurd;  such  as  the  letter  of  Achmet,  em- 
peror of  the  Turks,  whom  that  historian  calls  sultan  bashaw 
by  the  grace  of  God.* 

This  sam^  Norberg  makes  the  king  of  Sweden  say  that 
which  he  neither  said  or  could  have  said  relative  to  King 
Stanislaus.  He  pretends  that  Charles  XII.,  in  answer  to 
the  objections  of  the  primate,  told  him,  that  Stanislaus  had 
made  many  friends  during  his  journey  to  Italy;  although  it 
is  certain  that  Stanislaus  was  never  in  Italy,  as  it  is  confirm- 
ed by  the  testimony  of  that  monarch  himself. 

Norberg  had  neither  understanding,  wit,  nor  acquaintance 
with  the  affairs  of  the  world,  and  this  is  probably  what  de- 
termined Charles  XII.  to  choose  him  for  his  confessor.    I  do 


*  See  the  letter  of  M.  Voltaire  to  M.  Norberg. 


10 


PREFACE,  &c. 


not  think  he  has  set  his  prince  in  the  light  even  of  a  good 
christian,  but  most  assuredly  he  has  not  made  him  a  hero. 
Charles  XII.  would,  ere  this,  have  been  forgotten,  had  he 
none  other  than  Norberg  to  preserve  his  name  from  obli- 
vion. 

It  is  proper  to  remark  in  this  place,  that  there  was  pub- 
lished a  few  vears  since,  a  small  pamphlet,  entitled,  "  His- 
torical and  critical  remarks  upon  the  history  of  Charles  XII. 
by  M.  de  Voltaire."  This  little  work  is  Count  Poniatow- 
sky's.  It  consists  of  answers  he  had  given  to  fresh  questions 
on  my  part  during  his  late  journey  to  Paris,  but  his  secretary 
having  taken  a  double  copy  of  it,  it  fell  into  a  bookseller's 
hands  who  did  not  fail  to  print  it,  and  the  corrector  of  the  press 
in  Holland  entitled  Mr..  Poniatowsky's  information  "  a  Cri- 
tique," to  sell  it  the  better.  This  is  one  of  the  most  trilling 
frauds  which  are  practised  in  that  trade. 

La  Mottray,  a  servant  of  Monsieur  Fabricius,  has  also 
printed  some  remarks  upon  this  history.  Amidst  the  mis- 
takes and  the  frivolousness  with  which  this  critique  of  La 
Mottray  abounds,  there  is,  notwithstanding,  something  both 
useful  and  true,  and  I  have  taken  care  to  profit  by  it  in  the 
later  editions,  and  especially  in  this ;  for  in  writing  history 
nothing  must  be  despised ;  we  must  consult,  if  we  have  the 
opportunity,  both  kings  and  valets-de-chambre. 


DISSERTATION 


ON  THE 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


There  are  very  few  sovereigns  whose  history  ought  to  have  been 
written  apart.  In  vain  have  flattery  and  malignity  exerted  themselves 
for  almost  every  prince.  There  is  but  a  very  small  number  of  them 
whose  memory  we  preserve,  and  this  number  would  be  still  smaller  if 
we  remembered  only  such  as  were  virtuous. 

The  princes  that  have  the  best  claim  to  immortality  are  they  who  have 
done  some  good  to  mankind  ;  thus,  as  long  as  France  shall  endure,  it 
will  remember  the  affection  of  Louis  the  Twelfth  for  his  people.  The 
great  faults  of  Francis  the  First  will  be  forgiven  for  the  sake  of  the  arts 
and  sciences  of  which  he  was  the  father.  Blest  will  be  the  memory  of 
Henry  the  Fourth,  who  conquered  his  inheritance  first  by  his  valour  and 
then  by  his  clemency.  The  magnificence  of  Louis  the  Fourteenth 
will  be  applauded,  who  protected  the  arts  which  Francis  had  called  into 
existence. 

For  a  contrary  reason,  we  preserve  the  memory  of  bad  princes,  as  we 
record  fires,  plagues,  and  inundations. 

Conquerors  are  a  species  between  good  kings  and  tyrants,  but  partake 
most  of  the  latter,  and  have  a  glaring  reputation.  We  are  eager  to  know 
the  most  minute  circumstances  of  their  lives.  Such  is  the  miserable 
weakness  of  mankind,  that  they  look  with  admiration  upon  persons  glo- 
rious for  mischief,  and  are  better  pleased  to  be  talking  of  the  destroyer 
than  the  founder  of  an  empire. 

As  for  those  princes  who  have  made  no  figure  either  in  peace  or  war— 
who  have  neither  been  remarkable  for  great  virtues  nor  vices — their  lives 
furnish  so  little  matter  either  for  imitation  or  instruction,  that  they  are  not 
worthy  of  notice     Of  so  many  emperors  of  Rome,  Greece,  Germany, 


12 


DISSERTATION. 


and  Muscovy — of  so  many  sultans,  caliphs,  popes,  and  kings — how  few 
are  there  whose  names  deserve  to  be  recorded  any  where  but  in  chro- 
nological tables,  where  they  are  of  no  other  use  but  to  mark  the 
EPOC  has  ! 

There  is  a  vulgar  among  princes  as  well  as  among  the  rest  of  man- 
kind ;  yet  such  is  the  itch  of  writing,  that  a  prince  is  no  sooner  dead,  but 
the  world  is  immediately  deluged  with  volumes  under  the  name  of  me- 
moirs, the  history  of  his  life,  or  the  anecdotes  of  his  court.  By  these 
means  books  have  been  so  multiplied,  that  were  a  man  to  live  a  hundred 
years,  and  employ  them  all  in  reading,  he  would  not  be  able  to  run  over 
all  that  has  been  published  relating  to  the  history  of  Europe  for  the  last 
two  centuries. 

This  desire  of  transmitting  such  useless  stories  to  posterity,  and  of  fix- 
ing the  attention  of  future  ages  upon  the  most  common  events,  is  owing 
to  the  weakness  of  those  who  have  long  lived  in  some  court,  and  have 
had  the  misfortune  to  bear  any  part  in  public  affairs.  They  think  the 
court  they  have  lived  in  the  finest,  their  king  the  greatest,  and  the  affairs 
they  have  been  concerned  in  the  most  important  that  ever  were  ;  and  they 
imagine  posterity  will  behold  them  in  the  same  light. 

If  a  prince  has  had  wars  abroad,  troubles  or  intrigues  at  home  ;  if  he 
buys  the  friendship  of  his  neighbours,  or  sells  his  own-,  if,  after  some 
victories  and  some  defeats,  he  makes  peace  with  his  enemies  ;  his  sub- 
jects, heated  with  the  quick  succession  of  these  events,  think  they  were 
born  in  the  most  marvellous  era  since  the  creation.  And  what  then  ? 
This  prince  dies ;  new  measures  are  taken  ;  the  intrigues  of  his  court, 
his  mistresses,  ministers,  generals,  wars,  nay,  he  himself,  is  for- 
gotten. 

Ever  since  Christian  princes  have  been  endeavouring  to  outwit  one 
another,  making  sometimes  peace,  sometimes  war,  they  have  signed 
thousands  of  treaties,  and  fought  as  many  battles,  and  the  great  and  the 
infamous  actions  which  have  been  done  are  innumerable.  Yet  should 
this  heap  of  events  and  details  be  transmitted  to  posterity,  they  would 
most  of  them  confound  and  destroy  each  other,  and  the  memory  of  those 
only  would  survive,  which  have  occasioned  great  revolut-'  jns,  or 
which  having  been  related  by  good  authors,  are  preserve^  like  pic- 
tures of  obscure  persons,  only  because  they  were  drawn  1  y  a  masterly 
hand. 

A  particular  history  of  Charles  the  Twelfth  of  Sweden  had  not  increa- 
sed this  public  grievance,  were  it  not  that  he  and  his  rival,  Peter  Alexi- 
owitz,  a  much  greater  man  than  himself,  have  been,  by  the  confession  of 
all  the  world,  the  most  extraordinary  personages  that  have  appeared  for 
more  than  twenty  centuries.  Yet  was  not  the  trifling  satisfaction  of  re- 
lating extraordinary  actions  the  sole  motive  for  writing  this  life  ;  it  was 
suspected  that  its  perusal  might  become  advantageous  to  princes,  if  this 


DISSERTATION. 


13 


book  should  by  chance  fall  into  their  hands.  Certainly  there  is  no  sove- 
reign who,  by  the  study  of  the  history  of  Charles  XII.,  ought  not  to  be  cured 
of  the  madness  of  conquering ;  for  where  is  the  sovereign  who  can  say,  1 
have  greater  courage,  more  virtues,  more  resolution,  more  strength  of 
body,  greater  skill  in  war,  or  better  troops,  than  Charles  the  Twelfth  ? 
If,  with  all  these  favourable  circumstances,  and  after  so  many  victories, 
he  was  so  unfortunate,  what  may  other  princes  expect,  who  shall  have  as 
much  ambition,  with  less  talents  and  tewer  resources  ? 

This  history  is  composed  from  the  relations  of  some  persons  of  dis« 
tinction,  who  have  spent  several  years  with  Charles  the  Twelfth,  and 
Peter  the  Great,  Emperor  of  Muscovy  ;  and  having  retired  long  after 
the  death  of  those  princes  to  a  free  country,  have  no  interest  in  disguising 
the  truth. 

Monsieur  Fabricius,  who  lived  seven  years  in  intimacy  with  Charles 
XII.,  Mons.  de  Fierville,  minister  from  France,  Mons.  de  Villelonque, 
colonel  in  the  Swedish  service,  Mons.  Poniatowsky  himself,  have  fur 
nished  these  memoirs.  i 

Not  one  fact  is  advanced  upon  which  eye  witnesses  of  irreproachable 
veracity  have  not  been  consulted  ;  which  makes  the  history  very  dif- 
ferent from  those  gazettes  which  have  hitherto  come  out  under  the 
title  of  Lives  of  Charles  the  Twelfth. 

Many  little  skirmishes  between  the  Muscovite  and  Swedish  officers 
are  omitted  ;  for  it  is  the  life  of  the  king  of  Sweden,  not  his  officers,  that 
is  here  intended  to  be  written ;  and  of  his  life  we  have  only  selected 
the  most  important  events.  We  are  persuaded  that  the  history  of  a 
prince  consists  not  of  all  he  has  done  worthy  to  be  transmitted  to  pos- 
terity. 

It  is  necessary  to  observe  that  many  things  which  were  true  at  the  time 
of  writing  this  history  in  1728,  were  no  longer  so  in  1739.  For  instance, 
trade  began  at  that  time  to  be  less  neglected  in  Sweden ;  the  Polish 
infantry  was  better  disciplined,  and  had  a  uniform,  which  it  did  not  wear 
at  the  first  period.  In  reading  history,  we  must  always  consider  the  time 
of  its  writing.  A  person  who  should  read  only  the  memoirs  of  the  Car- 
dinal de  Retz,  would  take  the  P rench  nation  for  a  set  of  enthusiasts, 
breathing  nothing  but  faction,  madness,  and  civil  war.  To  read  the 
history  of  the  fortunate  years  of  Louis  the  Fourteenth,  one  would  judge 
them  a  people  born  only  for  obedience,  conquests,  and  the  polite  arts. 
Another,  who  should  see  the  memoirs  of  the  first  years  of  Louis  the 
Fifteenth,  would  remark  nothing  in  our  nation  but  its  effeminacy,  an 
extreme  avidity  for  wealth,  and  too  much  indifference  for  every  thing 
besides. 

The  present  Spaniards  are  not  the  Spaniards  of  Charles  the  Fifth, 
and  yet  they  may  deserve  that  character  in  afllw  years.  The  English 
of  this  age  no  more  resemble  the  fanatics  in  Cromwell's  time,  than  the 

2 


14 


DISSERTATION. 


monks  and  monsignori  who  fill  the  streets  of  Rome  are  like  the  ancient 
Scipios.  I  doubt  whether  the  Swedish  troops  could  suddenly  become 
so  formidable  as  those  of  Charles  the  Twelfth.  We  say  of  a  man,  that 
he  was  brave  at  such  a  time ;  and  so  we  may  say  of  a  nation,  that  they 
were  so  and  so  in  such  a  year,  or  under  such  an  administration. 

If  any  prince  or  minister  of  state  should  meet  with  disagreeable  truths 
in  this  book,  remember  that  being  public  men,  they  owe  an  account  of 
their  actions  to  the  public  ;  that  this  is  the  price  with  which  they  pur- 
chase their  greatness ;  that  history  is  a  witness,  and  not  a  flatterer ; 
and  that  the  only  way  to  force  men  to  speak  well  of  us,  is  to  act 
well. 


THE 

HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 

KING  OF  SWEDEN. 

BOOK  I. 

Argument. — An  abridgment  of  the  History  of  Sweden,  to  the  reign  of 
Charles  XII.— His  education. — His  enemies.— Character  of  Czar  Pe- 
ter Alexiowitz. — Curious  anecdotes  relative  to  that  prince  and  the 
Russian  nation.— Muscovy,  Poland,  and  Denmark,  unite  against 
Charles. 

Sweden  and  Finland  form  a  kingdom  one  third  part  greater 
in  extent  than  France,  but  very  inferior  to  it  in  fertility,  and 
at  this  time  in  population,  This  country  extends  nearly 
from  the  fifty-fifth  to  the  seventieth  degree  of  north  latitude, 
being  in  length  three,  and  in  breadth  two  hundred  French 
leagues,  and  lies  under  a  severe  climate,  that  hath  hardiy 
either  spring  or  autumn.  Winter  prevails  there  nine  months 
of  the  year ;  the  heat  of  summer  immediately  succeeding  to 
the  winter's  excessive  cold;  it  beginning  to  freeze  in  the 
month  of  October,  without  any  of  those  insensible  gradations 
which  in  other  countries  usher  in  the  seasons,  and  render 
the  variation  the  more  pleasing.  Nature,  as  a  compensation, 
however,  has  given  to  this  severe  cHmate  a  serene  sky  and 
a  pure  air.  The  almost  continual  heat  of  the  summer's  sun 
produces  flowers  and  fruits  in  a  short  time.  The  tediousness 
of  the  long  winter  nights  is  alleviated  by  the  morning  and 
evening  twilights,  which  last  in  proportion  as  the  sun  is  more 
or  less  removed  from  Sweden.  At  the  same  time,  the  bright- 
ness of  the  moon,  which  is  not  obscured  by  clouds,  but  in- 
creased by  the  reflection  of  the  snow  laying  upon  the  earth, 
and  frequently  by  the  northern  lights,  renders  it  as  convenient 
to  travel  in  Sweden  by  night  as  by  day.  The  cattle  are  in 
this  country,  through  want  of  pasturage,  smaller  than  those  of 


16 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


the  more  southern  parts  of  Europe.  The  men  are  larger;  the 
serenity  of  the  sky  conduces  to  their  health,  as  the  rigour  of  the 
climate  does  to  their  strength ;  they  live  even  to  a  greater  age 
than  other  men,  when  not  debilitated  by  the  immoderate  use 
of  wine  and  strong  liquors,  which  the  northern  nations  seem 
to  be  more  immoderately  fond  of  in  proportion  as  they  are 
denied  to  them  by  nature. 

The  Swedes  are  well  made,  robust,  active,  and  capable  of 
sustaining  the  greatest  fatigue,  hunger,  and  penury.  Born  to 
a  military  life,  full  of  pride,  more  brave  than  industrious,  they 
have  long  neglected,  and  even  to  this  day  but  badly  cultivate, 
the  arts  of  commerce,  which  only  can  supply  them  with  what 
is  wanting  to  their  country.  It  is  said  to  be  principally  from 
Sweden,  of  which  one  part  is  still  named  Gothland,  that  those 
multitudes  of  Goths  issued  forth,  who,  like  an  inundation, 
overwhelmed  Europe,  and  rent  it  from  the  Roman  empire, 
which  had  for  five  hundred  years  been  its  usurper,  its  legisla- 
tor, and  its  tyrant. 

The  northern  countries  were  at  that  time  much  more 
populous  than  at  present ;  not  only  from  their  religion  af- 
fording the  inhabitants  an  opportunity  of  furnishing  the  state 
with  a  greater  number  of  subjects,  by  the  possession  of  a  plu- 
rality of  wives ;  but  because  the  women  themselves  knew  no 
reproach  like  that  of  sterility  and  idleness  ;  and  being  as  la- 
borious and  robust  as  the  men,  they  attained  earlier,  and  re- 
mained longer  in  the  time  of  fecundity. 

Sweden  preserved  its  liberty  till  the  middle  of  the  four- 
teenth century :  for  though  during  so  long  a  period  there 
happened  more  than  one  revolution  in  government,  such 
revolutions  turned  out  constantly  in  favour  of  freedom.  To 
its  chief  magistrate  was  given  the  name  of  king,  a  title  that 
in  different  countries  has  very  different  degrees  of  power 
annexed  to  it.  In  France  and  Spain  it  signifies  an  abso- 
lute monarch ;  in  Poland,  Sweden,  and  England,  the  head 
of  the  commonwealth.  The  king  of  Sweden  could  do  no- 
thing without  the  senate ;  and  the  senate  depended  upon 
the  states  general,   which  were  often  convened.  The 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


17 


representatives  of  the  nation  in  these  numerous  assemblies, 
were  the  gentlemen,  bishops,  and  deputies  of  the  towns; 
and,  in  process  of  time,  the  peasantry,  a  class  of  people  un- 
justly slighted  in  other  nations,  and  enslaved  in  almost  all 
the  countries  of  the  North. 

About  the  year  1492,  this  nation,  though  jealous  of  its 
liberty,  and  boasting  even  to  this  day  of  having  conquered 
Rome  thirteen  centuries  ago,  was  reduced  to  slavery  by  a 
woman,  and  a  people  less  powerful  than  themselves. 

Margaret  Waldeinar,  the  Semiramis  of  the  North,  Queen 
of  Denmark  and  Norway,  joining  address  to  force,  conquered 
Sweden,  and  formed  these  three  great  states  into  one  king- 
dom. After  her  decease,  the  country  was  distracted  by  civil 
wars;  throwing  off  and  submitting  again  to  the  Danish  yoke, 
under  the  alternate  administration  of  kings  and  popular  pro- 
tectors. Two  of  these  tyrants  oppressed  them  terribly  about 
the  year  1520  ;  the  one,  Christiern  II.  King  of  Denmark,  a 
monster  in  vice,  without  one  compensating  virtue ;  the  other 
an  archbishop  of  Upsal,  primate  of  the  kingdom,  equally 
barbarous  with  King  Christiern.  These  two,  in  concert, 
caused  the  consuls  and  magistrates  of  Stockholm,  together 
with  ninety-four  senators,  to  be  seized  in  one  day  and  mas- 
sacred by  the  common  executioners,  under  the  pretext  that 
they  were  excommunicated  by  the  Pope,  for  having  defended 
the  rights  of  the  State  against  the  Archbishop.  After  this, 
they  gave  up  Stockholm  to  be  pillaged,  and  the  whole  town 
was  put  to  the  sword,  without  distinction  of  age  or  sex. 

While  these  men,  agreeing  as  to  the  means  of  oppression, 
and  differing  only  in  dividing  the  spoil,  were  committing 
acts  of  the  greatest  cruelty,  and  exercising  a  most  tyrannical 
despotism,  a  singular  and  novel  event  gave  a  turn  to  the 
affairs  of  the  North. 

Gustavus  Vasa,  a  youth  descended  from  the  ancient  Kings 
of  Sweden,  issued  forth  from  amidst  the  forests  of  Dele- 
carlia,  where  he  had  lain  concealed,  in  order  to  deliver  his 
country  from  slavery.  He  had  one  of  those  great  souls  which 
nature  so  seldom  forms,  possessed  of  all  the  qualities  neces- 


18 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


sary  to  govern  mankind.  The  advantages  of  a  fine  person,  and 
a  noble  mien,  prepossessed  every  one  in  his  favour,  so  that 
he  gained  partisans  wherever  he  appeared.  His  eloquence, 
to  which  his  engaging  deportment  gave  peculiar  force,  was 
the  more  persuasive,  as  it  was  artless  and  simple.  His  en- 
terprising genius  formed  those  projects  which  to  the  vulgar 
appear  rash,  but  are  imputed  to  a  noble  daring  by  great 
minds;  and  these  his  courage  and  perseverance  enabled  him 
to  accomplish.  Intrepid  yet  prudent,  of  a  gentle  disposition 
in  a  ferocious  age,  he  was,  in  short,  as  virtuous  as  it  is  sup- 
posed the  head  of  a  party  can  possibly  be. 

Gustavus  had  been  the  hostage  of  Christiern,  and  had 
been  detained  a  prisoner,  contrary  to  the  law  of  nations. 
Having  escaped  from  prison,  he  had  disguised  himself  in 
the  habit  of  a  peasant,  and  wandered  about  in  the  mountains 
and  woods  of  Delecarlia;  where  he  was  reduced  to  the 
necessity  of  working  in  the  copper-mines,  for  subsistence 
and  concealment.  Buried  as  he  was  in  these  subterraneous 
caverns,  he  had  the  courage  to  form  the  design  of  de- 
throning the  tyrant.  .  To  this  end,  he  discovered  himself  to 
the  peasants,  who  looked  upon  him  as  one  of  that  superior 
order  of  beings  to  which  common  men  owe  a  natural  sub- 
mission. These  servile  savages  he  soon  converted  into  sol- 
diers. He  attacked  Christiern  and  the  Archbishop,  repeated- 
ly defeated  them,  banished  them  from  Sweden,  and  at  last 
was  deservedly  chosen  by  the  States,  king  of  that  country 
of  which  he  had  been  a  deliverer. 

He  was  scarcely  established  on  the  throne,  when  he  un- 
dertook an  enterprise  still  more  difficult  than  conquest.  The 
real  tyrants  of  the  State  wrere  the  Bishops,  who,  having  en- 
grossed almost  all  the  wealth  of  the  kingdom,  made  use  of  it 
to  oppress  the  subjects,  and  make  war  upon  the  King.  Their 
power  was  the  more  formidable,  as  popular  ignorance  held 
it  to  be  sacred.  On  the  Catholic  religion,  therefore,  Gusta- 
vus revenged  the  criminality  of  its  ministers ;  so  that  in  less 
than  two  years,  Lutheranism  was  introduced  into  Sweden ; 
and  that  rather  by  the  arts  of  policy,  than  by  the  influence. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


19 


of  authority.  Having  thus  conquered  the  kingdom,  as  he 
used  to  express  it,  from  the  Danes  and  the  clergy,  he  reigned 
a  successful  and  absolute  monarch  to  the  age  of  seventy, 
when  he  died  full  of  glory,  leaving  his  family  and  religion  in 
peaceable  possession  of  the  throne. 

Gustavus  Adolphus  was  one  of  his  descendants,  common- 
ly called  the  Great  Gustavus.  This  prince  made  a  conquest 
of  Ingria,  Livonia,  Bremen,  Verdun,  Wismar,  and  Pomera- 
nia,  besides  above  a  hundred  places  in  Germany,  which, 
after  his  death,  were  yielded  up  by  the  Swedes.  He  shook 
the  throne  of  Ferdinand  the  Second,  and  protected  the  Lu- 
therans in  Germany,  in  which  he  was  secretly  assisted  by 
the  See  of  Rome,  who  dreaded  the  power  of  the  emperor 
much  more  than  that  of  heresy.  It  was  this  Gustavus  who, 
by  his  victories,  contributed  in  fact  to  humble  the  House  of 
Austria;  although  the  glory  of  that  enterprise  is  usually 
ascribed  entirely  to  Cardinal  de  Richelieu,  who  well  knew 
how  to  procure  himself  the  reputation  of  those  great  actions 
which  Gustavus  was  content  with  performing.  He  was  on 
the  point  of  extending  the  war  beyond  the  Danube,  and  per- 
haps of  dethroning  the  Emperor,  when  he  was  killed,  in  the 
thirty-seventh  year  of  his  age,  at  the  battle  of  Lutzen,  which 
he  gained  over  Walstein,  carrying  with  him  to  his  grave 
the  name  of  Great,  lamented  by  the  people  of  the  North,  and 
respected  even  by  his  enemies. 

His  daughter  Christini,  a  woman  of  uncommon  genius, 
was  much  fonder  of  conversing  with  men  of  letters  than  of 
reigning  over  a  people  whose  knowledge  was  confined  to 
the  art  of  war.  She  rendered  herself  as  famous  for  resigning 
a  throne,  as  her  ancestors  had  been  for  obtaining  or  esta- 
blishing it.  The  protestants  have  aspersed  her  character, 
as  if  it  were  impossible  for  a  person  to  be  possessed  of  great 
virtues  without  adhering  to  Luther ;  while  the  papists  have 
triumphed  too  much  on  the  pretended  conversion  of  a 
woman  who  was  no  more  than  a  philosopher.  She  retired 
to  Rome,  where  she  passed  the  remainder  of  her  days 
in  the  midst  of  the  arts  she  was  fond  of,  and  for  which 
she  had  renounced  a  kingdom  at  twenty-seven  years  of  age. 


20 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


Before  her  abdication,  she  prevailed  on  the  states  of 
Sweden  to  elect  her  cousin,  Charles  Gustavus  X.  son  to  the 
Count  Palatine,  and  duke  of  Deux-Points,  to  succeed  to  the 
crown.  This  prince  added  new  conquests  to  those  of  Gus- 
tavus Adolphus ;  carrying  immediately  his  arms  into  Poland, 
where  he  gained  the  famous  battle  of  Warsaw,  which  lasted 
three  days.  He  waged  a  long  and  successful  war  with  the 
Danes ;  besieged  their  capital ;  re-united  Schonen  to  Sweden ; 
and  confirmed,  at  least  for  a  time,  the  Duke  of  Holstein  in 
the  possession  of  Sleswick.  Experiencing  afterwards  a  re- 
verse of  fortune,  he  concluded  a  peace  with  his  enemies, 
and  turned  his  ambition  against  his  subjects.  Thus  he 
formed  the  design  of  establishing  a  despotic  government  in 
Sweden,  but  died,  like  Gustavus  the  Great,  in  the  thirty- 
seventh  year  of  his  age,  before  he  had  been  able  to  complete 
that  system  of  despotism  which  was  brought  to  perfection 
by  his  son,  Charles  XI. 

Charles  XI.  a  warrior  like  his  ancestors,  was  more  des- 
potic than  any  of  them.  He  abolished  the  authority  of  the 
senate,  which  was  declared  the  senate  of  the  king,  and  not 
of  the  kingdom.  He  was  frugal,  vigilant,  indefatigable ; 
which  would  have  made  him  beloved  by  his  subjects,  had 
not  his  despotic  spirit  converted  their  love  into  fear. 

In  1680  he  married  Ulrica  Eleonora,  daughter  to  Frede- 
rick III.  King  of  Denmark,  a  princess  of  great  virtues,  and 
worthy  of  greater  confidence  than  her  husband  reposed  in 
her.  Of  this  marriage,  on  the  27th  of  June,  1682,  was  born 
King  Charles  XII.  the  most  extraordinary  man,  perhaps, 
that  ever  appeared  in  the  world.  In  him  were  united  all 
the  great  qualities  of  his  ancestors ;  nor  had  he  any  other 
fault  or  misfortune  but  that  he  carried  all  these  virtues  to 
excess.  It  is  this  prince  of  whom  we  propose  to  write 
whatever  we  have  learned  with  certainty  relating  either  to 
his  person  or  his  actions. 

The  first  book  he  was  set  to  read,  was  the  work  of  Samuel 
Puffendorff,  in  order  to  give  him  an  early  knowledge  of  his 
own  and  the  neighbouring  States.    The  first  foreign  laa- 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


21 


guage  taught  him,  was  the  German,  which  he  continued  ever 
after  to  speak  with  the  same  fluency  as  his  mother  tongue. 
At  seven  years  of  age,  he  was  a  proficient  in  horsemanship  ; 
when  the  violent  exercises  in  which  he  delighted,  and  which 
discovered  his  martial  turn,  soon  gave  him  a  vigorous  con- 
stitution, capable  to  support  the  fatigues  to  which  his  natural 
inclination  prompted  him. 

Though  gentle  in  his  infancy,  he  betrayed  an  inflexible 
obstinacy.  The  only  way  to  bend  him,  was  to  awaken  his 
sense  of  honour;  with  the  name  of  Glory,  everything  could 
be  obtained  from  him.  He' had  an  aversion  to  Latin;  but  as 
soon  as  he  heard  that  the  kings  of  Poland  and  Denmark  un- 
derstood it,  he  learned  it  presently,  and  retained  so  much  of 
it  as  to  be  able  to  speak  it  all  the  rest  of  his  life.  The  same 
means  were  employed  to  engage  him  to  learn  the  French ; 
but  he  persisted,  as  long  as  he  lived,  in  the  disuse  of  that 
tongue,  which  he  would  not  speak,  even  to  the  French  am- 
bassadors themselves,  though  they  understood  no  other.  j 

As  soon  as  he  had  acquired  a  little  knowledge  of  the  La- 
tin, his  teacher  made  him  translate  Quintus  Curtius;  a  book 
to  which  he  was  attached  still  more  on  account  of  the  sub- 
ject than  the  style.  The  preceptor,  who  explained  this  au- 
thor to  him,  asking  him  one  day,  what  he  thought  of  Alex- 
ander; "  I  think,"  said  the  prince,  "I  could  wish  to  resemble 
him."  "But,"  resumed  the  preceptor,  "he  lived  only  two 
and  thirty  years."  w  And  is  that  not  long  enough  (replied 
he)  for  one  who  has  conquered  kingdoms  ?"  The  courtiers 
did  not  fail  to  report  these  answers  to  the  king  his  father,  who 
exclaimed,  "  This  boy  will  surpass  his  father,  and  even  Gus- 
tavus  the  Great."  Amusing  himself  one  day  in  the  royal 
apartments  in  viewing  two  plans,  the  one  of  a  town  in  Hun- 
gary, which  the  Turks  had  taken  from  the  emperor;  the 
other  of  Riga,  the  capita!  of  Livonia,  a  province  conquered 
by  the  Swedes,  about  a  century  before ;  under  the  plan  of  the 
town  in  Hungary  were  written  these  words,  taken  from  the 
book  of  Job :  "  The  Lord  hath  given  it  me,  and  the  Lord 
hath  taken  it  from  me;  blessed  be  the  name  of  the  Lord." 


22 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


The  young  prince  having  read  this  inscription,  immediately 
took,  a  pencil,  and  wrote  under  the  plan  of  Riga,  "  The  Lord 
hath  given  it  to  me,  and  the  devil  shall  not  take  it  from  me." 
Thus,  in  the  most  indifferent  actions  of  his  childhood,  his 
unconquerable  spirit  would  frequently  discover  the  charac- 
teristic traces  of  an  uncommon  genius,  which  plainly  indica- 
ted what  he  would  one  day  prove. 

He  was  eleven  years  of  age  when  he  lost  his  mother ; 
who  died  on  the  fifth  of  August,  1693,  of  a  disease,  as  was 
supposed,  owing  to  the  bad  usage  she  had  received  from  her 
husband,  and  to  her  endeavours  to  conceal  her  chagrin. 
Charles  XI.  had,  by  means  of  a  certain  court  of  justice,  call- 
ed the  Chamber  of  Liquidations,  erected  by  his  sole  authori- 
ty, deprived  a  great  number  of  his  subjects  of  their  wealth. 
Crowds  of  citizens  ruined  by  this  chamber,  nobility,  mer- 
chants, farmers,  widows,  and  orphans,  filled  the  streets  of 
Stockholm,  and  daily  repaired  to  the  gates  of  the  palace,  to 
vent  their  unavailing  complaints.  The  queen  relieved  these 
unhappy  people  as  much  as  lay  in  her  power;  she  gave  them 
her  money,  her  jewels,  her  furniture,  and  even  her  clothes : 
and  when  she  had  no  more  to  give  them,  she  threw  herself 
in  tears  at  her  husband's  feet,  beseeching  him  to  have  pity  on 
his  subjects.  The  king  gravely  answered  her,  "Madam, 
we  took  you  to  bring  us  children,  not  to  give  us  advice 
and  from  that  time  he  is  said  to  have  treated  her  with  a  se- 
verity which  shortened  her  days. 

He  died  four  years  after  her,  on  the  fifteenth  of  April,  1697, 
in  the  forty-second  year  of  his  age,  and  the  thirty-seventh  of 
his  reign,  at  a  time  when  the  Empire,  Spain,  and  Holland,  on 
one  side,  and  France  on  the  other,  had  referred  the  decision 
of  their  quarrels  to  his  arbitration,  and  when  he  had  already 
begun  the  work  of  pacification  between  these  powers. 

He  left  his  son,  who  was  then  fifteen  years  of  age,  a  throne, 
well  established  at  home,  and  respected  abroad;  subjects 
poor,  indeed,  but  warlike  and  loyal;  with  finances  in  good 
order,  and  under  the  management  of  able  ministers. 

Charles  XII.  at  his  accession  to  the  throne,  found  himself 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


23 


not  only  the  absolute  and  undisturbed  master  of  Sweden  and 
Finland,  but  also  of  Livonia,  Carelia,  Ingria,  Wismar,  Wi- 
bourg,  the  islands  of  Rugen  and  Oesel,  and  the  finest  part 
of  Pomerania,  together  with  the  dutchy  of  Bremen  and  Ver- 
dun, all  of  them  the  conquests  of  his  ancestors,  secured  to 
the  crown  by  long  possession,  and  by  the  solemn  treaties  of 
Munster  and  Olivia,  and  supported  by  the  terror  of  the  Swe- 
dish arms.  The  peace  of  Ryswick,  begun  under  the  auspi- 
ces of  his  father,  being  concluded  under  those  of  the  son,  he 
found  himself  the  mediator  of  Europe  at  the  commencement 
of  his  reign. 

The  laws  of  Sweden  fix  the  majority  of  their  kings  at  the 
age  of  fifteen  ;  but  Charles  XL,  who  was  entirely  absolute, 
deferred  by  his  last' will  the  majority  of  his  son  to  the  age 
of  eighteen.  In  this  he  favoured  the  ambitious  views  of  his 
mother  Edwiga-Eleonora,  of  Holstein,  dowager  of  Charles 
X.,  who  was  appointed  by  the  king,  her  son,  tutoress  to  the 
young  king,  her  grandson,  and  regent  of  the  kingdom,  in 
conjunction  with  a  council  of  five  persons. 

The  regent  had  a  share  in  the  management  of  public  af- 
fairs during  the  reign  of  her  son.  She  was  now  advanced 
in  years;  but  her  ambition,  which  was  greater  than  her  ge- 
nius, prompted  her  to  entertain  the  hopes  of  possessing  au- 
thority for  a  long  time  under  the  king,  her  grandson.  She 
kept  him  at  as  great  a  distance  as  possible  from  affairs  of 
state.  The  young  prince  passed  his  time  either  in  hunting  or 
in  reviewing  his  troops,  and  would  even  sometimes  exercise 
with  them;  which  amusement  seemed  6pWj$*ybe  the  natural 
effect  of  his  youthful  vivacity.  He  never  fefrayed  any  dis- 
satisfaction sufficient  to  alarm  the  regent,  who  flattered  her- 
self that  the  dissipation  of  mind  occasioned  by  these  diver- 
sions would  render  him  incapable  of  application,  and  leave 
her  the  longer  in  possession  of  the  regal  power. 

One  day  in  the  month  of  November,  in  the  same  year  his 
lather  died,  after  having  reviewed  several  regiments,  as  Piper, 
the  counsellor  of  state,  w%  standing  by  him,  he  seemed  to 
be  absorbed  in  a  profound  reverie.  "  May  I  take  the  liberty 


24 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


(said  Piper  to  him)  of  asking  your  majesty  what  you  are 
thinking  of  so  seriously?"  "I  am  thinking,  (replied  the 
prince,)  that  I  am  worthy  to  command  these  brave  fellows; 
and  I  dont  like  that  either  they  or  I  should  any  longer  re- 
ceive orders  from  a  woman."  Piper  immediately  seized  this 
opportunity  of  making  his  fortune ;  but  conscious  that  his 
own  interest  was  not  sufficient  for  the  execution  of  such  a 
dangerous  enterprise  as  the  removal  of  the  queen  from  the  re- 
gency, and  the  hastening  of  the  king's  majority,  he  propo- 
sed the  affair  to  Count  Axel  Sparre,  a  man  of  an  ardent 
mind,  and  who  sought  to  procure  himself  credit.  On  being 
flattered  with  the  confidence  of  the  king,  Sparre  entered  in- 
to his  measures,  and  undertook  the  management  of  the  whole 
business,  while  he  was  working  only  to  promote  the  interest 
of  Piper.  The  counsellors  of  the  regency  were  soon  brought 
over  to  the  scheme,  and  precipitated  the  execution  of  it,  in 
order  to  recommend  themselves  the  more  effectually  to  the 
king. 

They  went  in  a  body  to  propose  it  to  the  queen,  who  by 
no  means  expected  such  a  declaration.  The  states-general 
were  then  assembled ;  the  counsellors  of  the  regency  pro- 
posed the  rffair  ;  there  was  not  a  dissenting  voice  ;  the  poinl 
was  carried  with  a  rapidity  that  nothing  could  withstand ; 
so  that  Charles  XII.  had  only  to  signify  his  desire  of  reign- 
ing, and  in  three  days  the  states  bestowed  the  government 
upon  him.  The  power  and  credit  of  the  queen  sunk  in  an 
instant ;  she  led  afterwards  a  life  of  retirement,  more  suita- 
ble to  her  age,  though  less  agreeable  to  her  temper.  The 
king  was  crowned  on  the  24th  of  December  following,  on 
which  day  he  made  his  entry  into  Stockholm,  on  a  sorrel 
horse  shod  with  silver,  having  a  sceptre  in  his  hand,  and  a 
crown  upon  his  head,  amidst  the  acclamations  of  a  whole 
people,  fond  of  novelty,  and  conceiving  always  gr  jat  hopes 
from  a  young  prince. 

The  ceremony  of  the  consecration  and  coronation  belongs 
to  the  archbishop  of  Upsal ;  almost  the  only  privilege  that 
remains  to  him  of  the  great  number  that  were  enjoyed  by 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


23 


his  predecessors.  After  having  anointed  the  prince,  ac- 
cording to  custom,  he  held  the  crown  in  his  hand,  in  order 
to  put  it  upon  his  head ;  when  Charles  snatched  it  from 
him,  and  crowned  himself,  regarding  the  poor  prelate  all  the 
while  with  a  stern  look.  The  multitude,  who  are  always 
dazzled  by  every  thing  that  has  an  air  of  grandeur,  ap- 
plauded this  action  of  the  king.  Even  those  who  had  groan- 
ed most  severely  under  the  tyranny  of  the  father,  suffered 
themselves  to  applaud  in  the  son  this  arrogance,  which  was 
a  presage  of  their  slavery. 

Charles  was  no  sooner  master  of  the  kingdom,  than  he 
made  Piper  his  chief  confidant,  entrusting  him  at  the  same 
time  with  the  management  of  public  affairs,  making  him 
prime  minister,  though  without  the  name.  A  few  days  after, 
he  created  him  a  count,  which  is  a  dignity  of  great  emi- 
nence in  Sweden,  and  not  an  empty  title,  that  may  be  as- 
sumed without  any  importance,  as  in  France. 

The  beginning  of  the  king's  reign  gave  no  very  favoura- 
ble idea  of  his  character ;  so  that  it  was  imagined  he  had 
been  more  impatient  to  reign  than  worthy  of  it.  He  che- 
rished, indeed,  no  dangerous  passion ;  but  his  conduct  dis- 
covered nothing  buf  the  violences  of  youth  and  obstinacy. 
He  seemed  to  be  equally  haughty  and  indolent.  The  *  am- 
bassadors who  resided  at  his  court  took  him  even  for  a  per- 
son of  mean  capacity,  and  represented  him  as  such  to  their 
respective  masters.  The  Swedes  entertained  the  same 
opinion  of  him  :  nobody  knew  his  real  character  :  he  did  not 
even  know  it  himself,  until  the  storm  that  suddenly  arose  in 
the  North,  gave  him  an  opportunity  of  displaying  his  con- 
cealed talents. 

Three  powerful  princes,  taking  the  advantage  of  his 
youth,  conspired,  almost  at  the  same  time,  to  effect  his  ruin. 
The  first  was  Frederick  IV.  king  of  Denmark,  his  cousin. 
The  second  was  Augustus,  elector  of  Saxony  and  king  of 
Poland.  Peter  the  Great,  czar  of  Muscovy,  was  the  third, 
and  the  most  dangerous.    It  is  necessary  to  unfold  the 

*  The  original  letters  confirm  this. 
B  3 


2G 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII 


origin  of  these  wars,  which  produced  such  great  events.  To 
begin  with  Denmark  : 

Of  the  two  sisters  of  Ciiaries  XII.,  the  eldest  was  married 
to  the  duke  of  Holstein,  a  young  prince  of  an  undaunted 
spirit,  and  of  a  gentle  disposition.  The  duke,  oppressed  by 
the  king  of  Denmark,  repaired  to  Stockholm  with  his 
spouse,  and  throwing  himself  into  the  arms  of  the  king, 
earnestly  implored  his  assistance,  not  only  on  account  of 
being  his  brother-in-law,  but  as  he  was  likewise  the  king  of 
a  people  who  bore  an  irreconcilable  hatred  to  the  Danes. 

The  ancient  house  of  Holstein,  dissolved  into  that  of  01- 
denburgh,  had  been  advanced  by  election  to  the  throne  of 
Denmark  in  1449.  All  the  kingdoms  of  the  North  were  at 
that  time  elective ;  though  the  kingdom  of  Denmark  soon 
after  became  hereditary.  One  of  its  kings,  called  Christiern 
III.,  had  such  an  affection  for  his  brother  Adolphus,  or  at  least 
such  a  regard  for  his  interest,  as  is  rarely  met  with  among 
princes.  He  was  unwilling  to  see  him  destitute  of  sovereign 
power,  and  yet  he  could  not  dismember  his  own  dominions. 
He  therefore  divided  with  him  the  duchies  of  Holstein,  Got- 
torp,  and  Sleswick,  by  a  whimsical  kind  of  agreement,  which  * 
was,  that  the  descendants  of  Adolphus  should  ever  after 
govern  Holstein  in  conjunction  with  the  kings  of  Denmark ; 
that  those  two  dutchies  should  belong  to  both  in  common ; 
and  that  the  king  of  Denmark  should  be  able  to  do  nothing 
in  Holstein  without  the  duke,  nor  the  duke  without  the 
king.  So  strange  a  union,  of  which,  however,  there  has 
been  within  these  few  years  a  similar  instance  in  the  same 
family,  was  for  near  the  space  of  eighty  years,  the  source  of 
perpetual  disputes  between  the  crown  of  Denmark  and  the 
house  of  Holstein-Gottorp ;  the  king  always  endeavouring 
to  oppress  the  dukes,  and  the  dukes  to  render  themselves 
independent  of  the  kings.  A  struggle  of  this  nature  had  cost 
the  last  duke  his  liberty  and  sovereignty ;  both  which,  how- 
ever, he  recovered  at  the  conferences  of  Altena,  in  1689,  by 
the  interposition  of  Sweden,  England  and  Holland,  who 
became  guarantees  for  the  execution  of  the  treaty.    But  as 


KING  OF  SWEDEN.  27 

a  treaty  between  princes  is  frequently  no  more  than  a  sub- 
mission to  necessity,  till  the  stronger  shall  be  able  to  crush 
the  weaker,  the  contest  was  revived  with  the  greater  viru- 
lence than  ever  between  the  new  king  of  Denmark  and  the 
young  duke;  during' whose  absence  at  Stockholm  the  Danes 
had  committed  some  acts  of  hostility  in  the  country  of  Hol- 
stcin,  and  had  entered  into  a  secret  agreement  with  the  king 
of  Poland  to  crush  the  king  of  Sweden  himself. 

Frederick  Augustus,  elector  of  Saxony,  whom  neither  the 
eloquence  nor  negotiations  of  the  Abbe  de  Polignac,  nor  the 
great  qualities  cf  the  Prince  of  Gcnti,  his  competitor  for  the 
throne,  had  been  able  to  prevent  from  being  chosen  king  of 
Poland  about  two  years  before,  was  a  prince  no  less  remarka- 
ble for  his  incredible  strength  of  body,  than  for  his  bravery 
and  gallantry  of  mind.  His  court  was,  next  to  that  of 
Lewis  XIV.,  the  most  splendid  of  any  in  Europe.  Never 
was  a  prince  more  generous  or  munificent,  or  bestowed  his 
favours  with  a  better  grace.  He  had  purchased  the  votes  of 
one  half  of  the  Polish  nobility,  and  overawed  the  other  by 
the  approach  of  a  Saxon  army.  Thinking  he  should  have 
occasion  for  his  troops,  in  order  to  establish  himself  the  more 
firmly  on  the  throne,  he  wanted  a  pretext  for  retaining  them 
in  Poland;  he  therefore  resolved  to  employ  them  in  attacking 
the  king  of  Sweden,  which  he  did  on  the  following  occasion. 

Livonia,  the  most  beautiful  and  the  most  fertile  province 
of  the  North,  belonged  formerly  to  the  Knights  of  the  Teu- 
tonic!*: Ord^r.  The  Russians,  the  Poles,  and  the  Swedes, 
had  disputed  the  possession  of  it.  The  Swedes  had  carried 
it  about  a  hundred  years  ago ;  and  it  had  been  solemnly 
ceded  to  them  by  the  peace  of  Olivia. 

The  late  King  Charles  XL,  amidst  his  severities  to  his  sub- 
jects in  general,  had  not  spared  the  Livonians.  He  had  strip- 
ped them  of  their  privileges,  and  of  part  of  their  patrimo- 
nies. Patknl,  unhappily  so  famous  afterwards  for  his  tragi- 
cal death,  was  deputed  by  the  nobility  of  Livonia,  to  carry 
to  the  throne  the  complaints  of  the  province.  He  addressed 
his  master  in  a  speech,  respectful,  indeed,  but  bold,  and  full 


28 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


of  that  manly  eloquence  which  calamity,  when  joined  to 
courage,  inspires.  But  kings  too  frequently  consider  these 
public  addresses  as  no  more  than  vain  ceremonies,  which  it 
is  customary  to  suffer,  without  paying  them  any  regard. 
Charles  XL,  however,  who  could  play  the  hypocrite  ex- 
tremely well,  when  he  was  not  transported  by  the  violence 
of  his  passion,  gently  struck  Patkul  on  the  shoulder  :  w  You 
have  spoke  for  your  country,"  said  he,  "  like  a  brave  man,  and 
I  esteem  you  for  it ;  go  on."  Notwithstanding,  in  a  few  days 
after,  he  caused  him  to  be  declared  guilty  of  high  treason,  and, 
as  such,  to  be  condemned  to  death.  Patkul,  who  had  se- 
creted himself,  made  his  escape,  and  carried  his  resentment 
with  him  to  Poland  ;  where  he  was  afterwards  admitted  into 
the  presence  of  King  Augustus.  Charles  XI.  was  now  dead ; 
but  Patkul's  sentence  was  still  in  force,  and  his  indignation 
still  unabated.  He  represented  to  the  Polish  monarch  the 
facility  of  conquering  Livonia,  the  people  of  which  were  pro- 
voked to  despair,  and  ready  to  throw  off  the  Swedish  yoke, 
at  the  same  time  that  their  king  was  a  child,  and  incapable 
of  making  any  defence.  These  representations  were  well 
received  by  a  prince  already  desirous  of  making  so  great  a 
conquest.  Augustus  had  engaged  at  his  coronation,  to  exert 
his  utmost  efforts  to  recover  the  provinces  which  Poland  had 
lost;  and  he  imagined  that,  by  making  an  irruption  into 
Livonia,  he  should  at  once  please  the  people,  and  establish 
his  own  power ;  in  both  which  particulars,  however  plausi- 
ble, he  at  last  found  himself  disappointed.  Every  thing  was 
soon  got  ready  for  a  sudden  invasion,  without  even  conde- 
scending to  have  recourse  to  the  vain  formalities  of  declarations 
of  war  and  manifestoes.  The  storm  thickened  at  the  same 
time  on  the  side  of  Muscovy;  the  monarch  who  governed 
that  empire  deserves  the  attention  of  posterity. 

Peter  Alexiowitz,  czar  of  Russia,  had  already  made  him- 
self formidable  by  the  battle  he  had  gained  over  the  Turks 
in  1697,  and  by  the  reduction  of  Asoph,  which  opened  to 
him  the  dominion  of  the  Black  Sea.  But  it  was  by  actions 
still  more  glorious  than  his  victories  that  he  aspired  to  the 


KING  OF  SWEDEN.  29 


name  of  Great.  Muscovy,  or  Russia,  comprehends  the  northern 
parts  of  Asia,  and  of  Europe,  extending  from  the  frontiers  of 
China  for  the  space  of  fifteen  hundred  leagues,  to  the  borders 
of  Poland  and  Sweden.  This  immense  country,  however, 
was  hardly  known  to  Europe  before  the  time  of  Czar  Peter. 
The  Muscovites  were  less  civilized  than  the  Mexicans,  when 
discovered  by  Cortes  :  born  the  slaves  of  masters  as  barba- 
rous as  themselves,  they  remained  in  a  state  of  ignorance, 
in  want  of  all  the  arts,  and  in  such  an  insensibility  of  that 
want,  as  suppressed  every  motive  to  industry.  An  ancient 
law,  which  they  held  as  sacred,  forbade  them,  under  pain 
of  death,  to  leave  their  native  country  without  permission 
of  their  patriarch.  This  law,  enacted  with  a  view  to  pre- 
clude them  from  all  opportunities  of  becoming  sensible  of 
their  slavery,  was  yet  acceptable  to  a  people  who,  in  the 
depth  of  their  ignorance  and  misery,  disdained  all  commerce 
with  foreign  nations. 

The  sera  of  the  Muscovites  bears  date  from  the  creation 
of  the  world  ;  since  which  they  conceive  7207  years  were 
elapsed  at  the  beginning  of  the  last  century,  without  being 
able  to  assign  any  reason  for  this  computation.  The  first 
day  of  their  year  answered  to  the  thirteenth  of  September, 
new  style.  The  reason  alleged  for  this  regulation  is,  that 
it  is  most  probable  God  created  the  world  in  autumn,  the 
season  when  the  fruits  of  the  earth  are  in  their  full  maturity. 
Thus,  the  only  appearance  of  knowledge  which  they  had, 
was  founded  in  gross  error  :  not  one  of  them  ever  dreamed 
that  the  autumn  of  Muscovy  might  possibly  be  the  spring 
of  another  country,  situated  in  an  opposite  climate.  It  was 
not  long  since  the  people  at  Moscow  were  going  to  burn  the 
secretary  of  a  Persian  ambassador,  who  had  foretold  an 
eclipse  of  the  sun.  They  did  not  so  much  as  know  the  use 
of  figures ;  but  in  all  their  computations  made  use  of  little 
beads  strung  upon  brass  wires.  They  had  no  other  manner 
of  reckoning  in  the  offices  of  revenue,  not  even  in  the  trea- 
sury of  the  czar. 

Their  religion  was,  and  still  is,  that  of  the  Greek  Chris- 
3* 


30 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


tians,  but  mixed  with  many  superstitious  rites,  to  which  they 
were  the  more  strongly  attached,  in  proportion  as  they  were 
the  more  extravagant,  and  their  burthen  the  more  intolera- 
ble. Few  Muscovites  would  dare  to  eat  a  pigeon,  because 
the  Holy  Ghost  is  painted  in  the  form  of  a  dove.  They  re- 
gularly observed  four  Lents  in  the  year ;  during  which  time 
of  abstinence  they  never  presumed  to  eat  either  eggs  or 
milk.  God  and  St.  Nicholas  were  the  objects  of  their  wor- 
ship, and  next  to  them  the  czar  and  the  patriarch.  The 
authority  of  the  last  was  as  unbounded  as  the  ignorance  of 
the  people.  He  pronounced  sentence  of  death,  and  inflicted 
the  most  cruel  punishments,  without  any  possibility  of  an 
appeal  from  his  tribunal.  He  made  a  solemn  procession 
twice  a  year  on  horseback,  attended  by  all  his  clergy.  The 
czar  on  foot  held  the  bridle  of  his  horse,  and  the  people 
prostrated  themselves  before  him  in  the  streets,  as  the  Tar- 
tars do  before  their  Grand  Lama.  Confession  was  in  use 
among  them,  but  it  was  only  in  cases  of  the  greatest  crimes. 
In  these,  absolution  was  necessary,  but  not  repentance.  They 
thought  themselves  pure  in  the  sight  of  God,  as  soon  as 
they  received  the  benediction  of  their  papas.  Thus  they 
passed  without  remorse,  from  confession  to  theft  and  mur- 
der; and  what  among  other  Christians  is  a  restraint  from 
vice,  with  them  was  an  encouragement  to  wickedness.  They 
would  not  even  venture  to  drink  milk  on  a  fast ;  although 
on  a  festival,  masters  of  families,  priests,  married  women, 
and  maids,  would  make  no  scruple  to  intoxicate  themselves 
with  brandy.  There  were  religious  disputes,  however, 
among  them,  as  well  as  in  other  countries  ;  but  their  great- 
est controversy  was,  whether  lay-men  should  make  the  sign 
of  the  cross  with  two  fingers  or  with  three.  One  Jacob 
NursofT,  in  the  preceding  reign,  had  raised  a  sedition  in  As- 
tracan,  on  the  subject  of  this  dispute.  There  were  even 
some  fanatics  among  them,  as  there  are  in  those  civilized 
nations  where  every  one  is  a  theologian ;  and  Peter,  who 
always  earned  justice  into  cruelty,  caused  some  of  these  un- 
happy wretches,  called  the  Voskojesuits,  to  be  committed  to 
the  flames. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


31 


The  czar,  in  his  extensive  empire,  had  many  other  sub- 
jects who  were  not  Christians.  The  Tartars  inhabiting  the 
western  coasts  of  the  Caspian  Sea,  and  the  Palus  Macotis,  were 
Mahometans;  the  Siberians,  the  Ostiacks,  and  the  Samoie- 
des,  who  lie  towards  the  Frozen  Sea,  were  savages,  some  of 
whom  were  idolaters,  and  others  had  not  even  the  know- 
ledge of  a  God ;  and  yet  the  Swedes,  who  were  sent  pri- 
soners among  them,  were  better  pleased  with  their  manners 
than  with  those  of  the  ancient  Muscovites. 

Peter  Alexiowitz  had  received  an  education  that  tended 
still  more  to  increase  the  barbarism  of  this  part  of  the  world. 
His  natural  disposition  led  him  to  caress  strangers,  before 
he  knew  what  advantages  he  might  derive  from  their  ac- 
quaintance.   A  young' Genevese,  named  Le  Fort,  of  an  an- 
cient family  in  Geneva,  the  son  of  a  druggist,  was  the  first 
instrument  he  employed  in  the  course  of  time,  to  change  the 
face  of  affairs  in  Muscovy.    This  young  man,  sent  by  his  fa- 
ther to  be  a  merchant  at  Copenhagen,  quitted  his  business, 
and  followed  an  ambassador  of  Denmark  to  Muscovy,  from 
that  restlessness  of  mind  which  is  always  experienced  by 
such  as  feel  themselves  superior  to  their  situation.    He  took 
it  into  his  head  to  learn  the  Russian  language.    The  rapid 
progress  which  he  made  in  it  excited  the  curiosity  of  the 
czar,  who  was  yet  in  his  youth.    Le  Fort  became  acquaint- 
ed with  him ;  he  insinuated  himself  into  his  familiarity ;  he 
often  talked  to  him  of  the  advantages  of  commerce  and  na- 
vigation ;  he  told  him  how  Holland,  which  h  act  never  pos- 
sessed the  hundredth  part  of  the  states  of  Muscovy,  made  as 
great  a  figure  by  means  of  her  commerce  alone,  as  the  Spains, 
a  sinall  province  of  which  she  had  formerly  been,  both  use- 
less and  despised.    He  entertained  him  with  the  refined  po- 
licy of  the  princes  of  Europe,  with  the  discipline  of  their 
troops,  the  police  of  their  cities,  and  the  infinite  number  of 
manufactures,  arts,  and  sciences,  which  render  the  Euro- 
peans powerful  and  happy.    These  discourses  awakened  the 
young  emperor  as  from  a  profound  lethargy ;  his  mighty  ge- 
nius, which  a  barbarous  education  had  repressed,  but  had  not 


32 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


been  able  to  destroy,  unfolded  itself  almost  at  once.  He 
resolved  to  be  a  man,  to  rule  over  men,  and  to  create  a  new 
nation.  Many  princes  before  him  had  renounced  their  crowns 
from  disgust  to  the  weight  of  business,  but  none  like  him 
had  ceased  to  be  a  king,  in  order  to  learn  how  to  govern 
better.    This  is  what  was  done  by  Peter  the  Great. 

He  left  Muscovy  in  1698,  having  reigned  but  two  years, 
and  went  to  Holland,  disguised  under  a  common  name,  as  it 
he  had  been  a  domestic  servant  of  the  same  Mr.  Le  Fort, 
whom  he  sent  in  quality  of  ambassador  extraordinary  to  the 
States  General.  As  soon  as  he  arrived  at  Amsterdam,  he 
enrolled  himself  among  the  shipwrights  of  the  India  Com- 
pany's wharf,  under  the  name  of  Peter  Micha^loff,  but  he 
was  commonly  called  Peter  Bas,  or  Master  Peter.  He 
worked  in  the  yard  like  the  other  mechanics.  At  his  leisure 
hours  he  learned  such  parts  of  the  mathematics  as  are  use- 
ful to  a  prince,  fortification,  navigation,  and  the  art  of  draw- 
ing plans.  He  went  into  the  workmen's  shops,  and  exam- 
ined all  their  manufactures,  in  which  nothing  could  escape 
his  observation.  From  thence  he  went  over  to  England, 
where,  having  perfected  himself  in  the  art  of  ship  building, 
he  returned  to  Holland,  carefully  observing  every  thing  that 
might  turn  to  the  advantage  of  his  own  country.  At  length, 
after  two  years  of  travel  and  labour,  to  which  no  man  but 
himself  would  have  willingly  submitted,  he  again  made  his 
appearance  in  Muscovy,  with  all  the  arts  of  Europe  in  his 
train.  Artists  of  every  kind  followed  him  in  crowds.  Then 
were  seen  for  the  first  time,  large  Russian  ships  in  the  Bal- 
tic, and  on  the  Black  Sea,  and  the  ocean.  Stately  buildings, 
of  a  regular  architecture,  were  raised  among  the  Russian 
huts.  He  founded  colleges,  academies,  printing-houses,  and 
libraries.  The  cities  were  brought  under  a  regular  police. 
The  clothes  and  customs  of  the  people  were  gradually  chan- 
ged, though  not  without  some  difficulty ;  and  the  Muscovites 
learned  by  degrees  the  true  nature  of  a  social  state.  Even 
their  superstitious  rites  were  abolished ;  the  dignity  of  the 
patriarch  was  suppressed ;  and  the  czar  declared  himself  the 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


33 


head  of  the  church.  This  last  enterprise,  which  would  have 
cost  a  prince  less  absolute  than  Peter  both  his  throne  and  his 
life,  succeeded  almost  without  opposition,  and  insured  to 
him  the  success  of  his  other  innovations. 

After  having  humbled  an  ignorant  and  a  barbarous  clergy, 
he  ventured  to  make  a  trial  of  instructing  them,  though  by 
that  means  he  ran  the  risk  of  rendering  them  formidable  ;  but 
he  was  too  sensible  of  his  own  power  to  entertain  any  fear 
of  it.  He  caused  philosophy  and  theology  to  be  taught  in 
the  few  monasteries  that  still  remained.  True  it  is,  this 
theology  still  savours  of  that  barbarous  period  in  which  Peter 
civilized  his  people.  A  person  of  undoubted  veracity  assured 
me  that  he  was  present  at  a  public  disputation,  where  the  point 
of  controversy  was,  Whether  the  practice  of  smoking  tobacco 
was  a  sin?  The  respondent  maintained  that  it  was  lawful 
to  get  drunk  with  brandy,  but  not  to  smoke,  because  the 
Holy  Scriptures  saith,  "  that  which  proceedeth  out  of  the 
mouth  defileth  the  man,  and  that  which  entereth  into  it  doth 
not  defile  him." 

The  monks  were  not  pleased  with  this  relormation.  The 
czar  had  hardly  erected  printing-houses,  when  they  made 
use  of  them  to  decry  him.  They  declared  in  print  that 
Peter  was  Anti-Christ,  for  that  he  deprived  the  living  of  their 
beards,  and  allowed  the  dead  to  be  dissected  in  his  Acade- 
my. But  another  monk,  who  aimed  at  promotion,  refuted 
this  book,  and  proved  that  Peter  could  not  be  x4.nti-Christ, 
because  the  number  666  was  not  to  be  found  in  his  name. 
The  libeller  was  accordingly  broke  upon  the  wheel,  and  the 
author  of  the  refutation  was  made  bishop  of  Rezan. 

This  reformer  of  Muscovy  enacted,  in  particular,  a  very 
salutary  law,  the  want  of  which  reflects  disgrace  on  many 
civilized  nations.  This  enacted,  that  no  man  engaged  in  the 
service  of  the  state,  no  citizen  established  in  trade,  and 
especially  no  minor,  should  retire  into  a  convent. 

Peter  knew  of  what  infinite  consequence  it  was  to  pre- 
vent useful  subjects  from  consecrating  themselves  to  idle- 
ness, and  to  hinder  young  people  from  disposing  of  their 
B2 


34 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


liberty  at  an  age  when  they  were  incapable  of  disposing  of  the 
least  part  of  their  patrimony.  But  this  law,  though  calculated 
for  the  general  interest  of  mankind,  is  daily  eluded  by  the 
industry  of  the  monks ;  as  if  they  were  in  fact  gainers  by 
peopling  their  convents  at  the  expense  of  their  country. 

The  czar  not  only  subjected  the  church  to  the  state,  after 
the  example  of  the  Turkish  emperors,  but,  by  a  more  mas- 
terly stroke  of  policy,  dissolved  a  militia  similar  to  that  of 
the  Janizaries ;  and  accomplished,  in  a  short  time,  what  the 
Sultans  had  long  in  vain  attempted.  He  disbanded  the 
Russian  Janizaries,  who  were  called  Strelitz,  and  kept  the 
czars  in  subjection.  This  body  of  soldiery,  more  formida- 
ble to  their  masters  than  to  their  neighbours,  consisted  of 
about  thirty  thousand  foot,  one  half  of  which,  remained  at 
Moscow,  while  the  other  was  stationed  upon  the  frontiers. 
The  pay  of  a  Strelitz  was  no  more  than  four  rubles  a  year ; 
but  this  deficiency  was  amply  compensated  by  privileges  and 
extortions.  Peter  formed  at  first  a  company  of  foreigners, 
among  whom  he  enrolled  his  own  name,  and  did  not  think 
it  beneath  his  dignity  to  begin  the  service  in  the  capacity  of 
a  drummer,  and  to  perform  the  duties  of  that  mean  office; 
so  much  did  the  nation  stand  in  need  of  examples  !  By  de- 
grees he  became  an  officer.  He  gradually  raised  new  regi- 
ments ;  and  at  last,  finding  himself  master  of  a  well  dis- 
ciplined army,  he  broke  the  Strelitz,  who  durst  not  disobey 
him. 

The  cavalry  were  nearly  the  same  with  that  of  Poland,  or 
what  the  French  formerly  was,  when  the  kingdom  of  France 
was  no  more  than  an  assemblage  of  fiefs.  The  gentlemen  were 
mounted  at  their  own  expense,  and  fought  without  discipline, 
and  sometimes  with  no  other  arms  than  a  sabre  or  a  bow,  in- 
capable of  command,  and  consequently  of  conquest. 

Peter  the  Great  taught  them  to  obey,  both  by  the  example 
he  set,  and  the  punishment  he  inflicted ;  for  he  served  in 
the  quality  of  a  soldier  and  subaltern  officer,  and  as  czar  he 
severely  punished  the  boyards,  that  is,  the  gentlemen,  who 
pretended  that  it  was  the  privilege  of  their  order  not  to  serve 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


35 


but  by  their  own  consent.  He  established  a  regular  body 
to  serve  the  artillery,  and  took  five  hundred  bells  from  the 
churches  to  be  converted  into  cannon.  In  the  year  1614  he 
had  thirteen  thousand  pieces  of  ordnance.  He  likewise 
formed  companies  of  dragoons,  troops  very  suitable  to  the 
genius  of  the  Muscovites,  and  to  the  size  of  their  horses, 
which  are  small.  -In  1738,  the  Russians  had  thirty  regi- 
ments of  these  dragoons,  consisting  of  a  thousand  men  each, 
well  disciplined  and  accoutred.  He  likewise  established 
regiments  of  hussars  in  Russia,  and  had  even  a  school  of  en- 
gineers, in  a  country  where,  before  himself,  no  one  under- 
stood the  elements  of  geometry.  He  was  also  himself  a  good 
engineer;  but  his  chief  excellence  lay  in  his  knowledge  of 
naval  affairs;  he  was  an  able  sea  captain,  a  skilful  pilot,  a 
good  sailor,  and  expert  shipwright,  and  his  knowledge  of 
these  arts  was  the  more  meritorious,  as  he  was  born  with  a 
great  dread  of  the  water. 

In  his  youth,  he  could  not  pass  over  a  bridge  without 
trembling :  on  all  these  occasions,  he  caused  the  wooden 
windows  of  his  coach  to  be  shut;  but  of  this  constitutional 
weakness  he  soon  got  the  better  by  his  courage  and  resolu- 
tion. He  caused  a  beautiful  harbour  to  be  built  at  the  mouth 
of  the  Tanais,  near  Asoph,  in  which  he  proposed  to  keep  a 
number  of  gallies ;  and  some  time  after,  thinking  that  these 
vessels,  so  long,  light,  and  flat,  would  probably  succeed  in 
the  Baltick,  he  had  upwards  of  three  hundred  of  them  built 
at  his  favourite  city  of  Petersburgh.  He  showed  his  subjects 
the  method  of  building  ships  with  deals  only,  and  taught 
them  the  art  of  navigation.  He  had  even  learnt  surgery, 
and,  in  a  case  of  necessity,  has  been  known  to  tap  a  person 
for  the  dropsy.  He  was  well  versed  in  mechanics,  and  in- 
structed the  workmen. 

The  revenue  of  the  czar,  when  compared  to  the  immense 
extent  of  his  dominions,  was  indeed  inconsiderable.  It  never 
amounted  to  four  and  twenty  millions  of  livres,  reckoning  the 
mark  at  about  fifty  livres,  as  we  do  to-day,  though  we  may 
not  do  so  to-morrow.    But  he  may  always  be  accounted  rich 


36 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


who  has  it  in  his  power  to  accomplish  great  undertakings. 
It  is  not  the  scarcity  of  money  that  debilitates  a  state;  it  is 
the  want  of  men,  and  men  of  abilities. 

Russia,  notwithstanding  the  women  are  fruitful  and  the 
men  robust,  is  not  very  populous.  Peter  himself,  in  civili- 
zing his  dominions,  unhappily  contributed  to  the  decrease 
of  his  people.  Frequent  levies  in  his  wars,  which  were 
long  and  unsuccessful ;  nations  transplanted  from  the  coasts 
of  the  Caspian  Sea  to  those  of  the  Baltick,  destroyed  by  fa- 
tigue, or  cut  off  by  diseases ;  three-fourths  of  the  Muscovite 
children  dying  of  the  small  pox,  which  is  more  dangerous  in 
those  climates  than  in  any  other;  in  a  word,  the  melancho- 
ly effects  of  a  government,  savage  for  a  long  time,  and  bar- 
barous even  in  its  police ;  these  are  the  causes  that  in  this 
country,  comprehending  so  great  a  part  of  the  continent, 
there  are  still  vast  deserts.  Russia  is,  at  present,  supposed 
to  contain  five  hundred  thousand  families  of  gentlemen ;  two 
hundred  thousand  lawyers;  something  more  than  five  mil- 
lions of  citizens  and  peasants,  who  pay  a  sort  of  land-tax  ; 
six  hundred  thousand  men  in  the  provinces  conquered  from 
the  Swedes.  The  Cossacks  in  the  Ukraine,  and  the  Tar- 
tars that  are  subject  to  Muscovy,  do  not  exceed  two  millions. 
In  fine,  it  appears  that  in  this  immense  country  there  are  not 
above  fourteen  millions  of  people,  that  is,  a  little  more  than 
two-thirds  of  the  inhabitants  of  France.* 

While  the  czar  was  thus  employed  in  changing  the  laws, 
the  manners,  the  militia,  and  the  very  face  of  his  country,  he 
likewise  resolved  to  increase  his  greatness  by  encouraging 
commerce,  which  at  once  constitutes  the  riches  of  a  particu- 
lar state,  and  contributes  to  the  interest  of  the  world  in  ge- 
neral. He  undertook  to  make  Russia  the  centre  of  trade 
between  Asia  and  Europe.  He  determined  to  join  the  Duna, 
the  Volga,  and  the  Tanais,  by  canals,  of  which  he  drew  the 

*  This  was  written  in  the  year  1727.  The  population  of  Russia  hath 
greatly  increased  since  that  time,  as  well  by  military  conquest,  as  by  th« 
arts  of  civil  policy,  and  the  care  which  has  been  taken  to  induce  fo- 
reigners to  come  to  and  reside  in  the  country. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


37 


plans  ;  and  thus  to  open  a  new  passage  from  the  Baltick  to 
the  Euxine  and  Caspian  Seas,  and  from  those  seas  to  the 
Northern  Ocean.  The  port  of  Archangel,  frozen  up  nine 
months  in  the  year,  and  which  could  not  be  entered  without 
making  a  long  and  dangerous  circuit,  did  not  appear  to  him 
sufficiently  commodious.  So  long  ago,  therefore,  as  the  year 
1700,  he  had  formed  a  design  of  opening  a  sea-port  on  the 
Baltick,  that  should  become  the  magazine  of  the  north,  and 
of  building  a  city  that  should  prove  the  capital  of  his  empire. 

He  had  even  then  attempted  the  discovery  of  a  north-east 
passage  to  China;  and  the  manufactures  of  Pekin  and  Paris 
were  intended  to  embellish  his  new  city. 

A  road  by  land,  754  versts*  long,  running  through  marshes 
that  were  to  be  drained,  was  to  lead  from  Moscow  to  his  new 
city.  Most  of  these  projects  have  been  executed  by  him- 
self; and  the  two  empresses,  his  successors,  have  even  im- 
proved upon  those  of  his  schemes  that  were  practicable,  and 
abandoned  only  such  as  it  was  impossible  to  accomplish. 

He  always  travelled  through  his  dominions  as  much  as  his 
wars  would  permit ;  but  he  travelled  like  a  legislator  and  a 
naturalist ;  examining  nature  every  where  ;  endeavouring  to 
correct  or  perfect  her;  taking  himself  the  soundings  of  seas 
and  rivers ;  ordering  sluices,  visiting  docks,  causing  mines  to 
be  worked,  assaying  metals,  and  in  directing  accurate  charts 
to  be  drawn  ;  in  the  execution  of  which  he  himself  assisted. 

He  built  upon  a  desert  spot  the  imperial  city  of  Peters- 
burgh,  containing  at  present  sixty  thousand  houses,  the  resi- 
dence of  a  splendid  court,  whose  amusements  are  of  the 
most  refined  taste.  He  built  the  harbour  of  Cronstadt,  on 
the  Neva,  and  St.  Croix,  on  the  frontiers  of  Persia ;  he 
erected  forts  in  the  Ukraine,  and  in  Siberia;  established 
offices  of  admiralty  at  Archangel,  Petersburgh,  Astracan, 
and  Asoph ;  founded  arsenals,  and  built  and  endowed  hospi- 
tals. All  his  own  houses  were  mean,  and  executed  in  a  bad 
taste ;  but  he  spared  no  expense  in  rendering  the  public 
buildings  grand  and  magnificent. 

*  A  verst  consists  of  754  paces. 
4 


33 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


The  sciences,  which  in  other  countries  have  been  the  slow 
product  of  so  many  ages,  were,  by  his  care  and  industry, 
imported  into  Russia  in  full  perfection.  He  established  an 
academy  on  the  plan  of  the  famous  societies  of  Paris  and 
London.  The  Delisles,  the  Bulfingers,  the  Hermannus's, 
the  Bernouilles,  and  the  celebrated  Wolf,  a  man  who  ex- 
celled in  every  branch  of  philosophy,  were  all  invited  and 
brought  to  Petersburgh  at  a  great  expense.  This  academy 
still  subsists ;  and  the  Muscovites,  at  length,  have  philoso- 
phers of  their  own  nation. 

He  obliged  the  young  nobility  to  travel  for  improvement, 
and  to  bring  back  into  Russia  the  politeness  of  foreign  coun- 
tries. I  have  myself  seen  young  Russians,  who  were  men 
of  genius  and  science.  It  was  thus  that  a  single  man  hath 
reformed  the  greatest  empire  in  the  world.  It  is,  however, 
shocking  to  reflect,  that  this  reformer  of  mankind  should 
have  been  deficient  in  that  first  of  all  virtues,  the  virtue  of 
humanity.  Brutality  in  his  pleasures,  ferocity  in  his  man- 
ners, and  barbarity  in  his  revenges,  sullied  the  lustre  of  his 
many  virtues.  He  civilized  his  subjects,  and  yet  remained 
a  barbarian.  He  was  conscious  of  this,  and  once  said  to  a 
magistrate  of  Amsterdam,  "  I  reform  my  country,  but  am 
not  able  to  reform  myself."  He  has  executed  his  sentence 
upon  criminals  with  his  own  hands,  and  at  a  debauch  at 
table  has  shown  his  address  at  cutting  off  heads. 

In  Africa,  there  are  princes  who  thus  with  their  own  hands 
shed  the  blood  of  their  subjects ;  but  these  pass  for  barba- 
rians. The  death  of  a  son,  whom  he  ought  to  have  corrected, 
or  disinherited,  would  render  the  memory  of  Peter  the  ob- 
ject of  universal  hatred,  were  it  not  that  the  great  and  many 
blessings  he  bestowed  upon  his  subjects,  were  almost  suffi- 
cient to  excuse  his  cruelty  to  his  own  offspring. 

Such  was  Czar  Peter;  and  his  great  projects  were  little 
more  than  in  embryo,  when  he  joined  the  kings  of  Poland 
and  Denmark  against  a  child  whom  they  all  despised.  The 
founder  of  the  Russian  empire  was  ambitious  of  being  a  con- 
queror ;  and  such  he  thought  he  might  easily  become  by  (he 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


39 


prosecution  of  a  war,  which  being  so  well  projected,  could 
not  fail,  he  imagined,  of  proving  useful  to  all  his  designs ; 
the  art  of  war  was  a  new  art,  which  it  was  necessary  to  teach 
his  people. 

He  wanted,  besides,  a  port  on  the  east  side  of  the  Baltick, 
to  facilitate  the  execution  of  his  schemes.  He  wanted  the 
province  of  Ingria,  which  lies  to  the  north-east  of  Livonia. 
The  Swedes  were  in  possession  of  it,  and  from  them  he  re- 
solved to  take  it  by  force.  His  predecessors  had  claims  upon 
Ingria,  Esthonia,  and  Livonia ;  and  the  present  seemed  a 
favourable  opportunity  of  reviving  those  claims,  which  had 
been  buried  for  a  hundred  years,  and  had  been  extinguished 
by  treaties.  He  entered,  therefore,  into  a  league  with  the  king 
of  Foland,  to  wrest  from  the  young  Charles  the  Twelfth  all 
the  territories  that  lie  between  the  Gulph  of  Finland,  the 
Baitick  Sea,  Poland,  and  Muscovy. 


40 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


BOOK  It 

Argument. — A  remarkable  and  unexpected  change  in  the  character  of 
Charles. — At  the  age  of  eighteen  he  engages  in  a  war  against  Den- 
mark, Poland,  and  Muscovy. — Finishes  that  with  Denmark  in  six 
weeks. — Defeats  eighty  thousand  Russians  with  only  eight  thousand 
Swedes. — Marches  into  Poland. — A  description  of  Poland  and  its 
government. — Charles  gains  many  battles,  and  becomes  master  of  Po- 
land, where  he  prepares  to  appoint  a  king. 

Thus  did  three  powerful  sovereigns  threaten  the  infancy 
of  Charles  the  Twelfth.  The  news  of  these  preparations 
dismayed  the  Swedes,  and  alarmed  the  council.  All  their 
distinguished  generals  were  dead ;  and  they  had  every  rea- 
son to  tremble  under  the  reign  of  a  young  king,  who  had,  as 
yet,  given  them  but  a  bad  opinion  of  his  abilities.  He  hardly 
ever  came  to  a  council  for  any  other  purpose  than  to  lay  his 
legs  across  on  the  table;  absent  and  indifferent,  he  never  ap- 
peared to  interest  himself  in  any  thing. 
^  As  the  council  were  one  day  deliberating,  in  his  presence, 
on  the  dangerous  predicament  in  which  they  stood,  some  of 
them  proposed  to  avoid  the  impending  tempest  by  negotia- 
tions ;  when  the  young  prince  immediately  rose  with  the 
grave  and  assured  air  of  a  man  of  superior  abilities,  who  had 
fixed  his  resolution. 

"Gentlemen,"  said  he,  "  I  am  resolved  never  to  begin  an 
unjust  war,  but  never  to  finish  a  just  one  but  with  the  de- 
struction of  my  enemies.  My  resolution  is  fixed ;  I  will 
march  and  attack  the  first  who  shall  declare  w  ar ;  and  when 
I  shall  have  conquered  him,  I  hope  to  strike  terror  into  the 
rest."  All  the  old  councillors,  astonished  at  this  declaration, 
looked  at  each  other  without  daring  to  answer.  In  short, 
surprised  at  having  such  a  king,  and  ashamed  to  appear  less 
confident  than  him,  they  received  his  orders  for  the  war 
with  admiration. 

They  were  still  more  agreeably  surprised  when  they  be- 
held him  renounce  at  once  the  most  innocent  amusements  of 


,CING  OF  SWEDEN. 


4t 


his  youth.  From  the  first  moment  of  his  preparing  himself 
for  the  war,  he  began  an  entire  new  course  of  life,  from 
which  he  never  after  departed  a  single  moment.  Full  of  the 
idea  of  Alexander  and  Caesar,  he  determined  to  imitate  those 
two  heroes  in  every  thing  but  their  vices.  He  no  longer  in- 
dulged himself  in  magnificence,  sports,  and  recreations ;  and 
reduced  his  table  to  the  most  rigid  frugality.  He  had  before 
loved  pomp  in  his  dress ;  but  he  now  dressed  himself  as  a 
common  soldier.  It  was  generally  supposed  that  he  had . 
formed  a  strong  attachment  to  a  lady  of  his  court ;  but  whe- 
ther this  supposition  was  true  or  not,  it  is  certain  that  he 
from  that  time  renounced  all  fondness  for  the  sex,  not  only 
from  the  fear  of  being  governed  by  them,  but  to  set  an  ex- 
ample to  his  soldiers,  whom  he  was  desirous  of  bringing 
back  to  the  most  rigid  discipline ;  and  perhaps,  also,  from 
the  vanity  of  being  deemed  the  only  king  who  could  subdue 
a  passion  so  difficult  to  surmount.  He  likewise,  resolved  to 
abstain  from  wine  during  the  rest  of  his  life.  Many  people  have 
told  me  that  he  made  this  resolution  merely  to  get  the  better 
of  his  inclinations  in  every  thing,  and  to  give  an  additional 
lustre  to  his  self-denial ;  but  by  far  the  greater  part  assured 
me,  that  he  was  determined  by  those  means  to  punish  him- 
self for  an  excess  which  he  had  been  guilty  of,  and  for  an 
affront  he  had  offered  to  a  lady  at  table,  even  in  the  presence 
of  the  queen,  his  mother.  Even  if  that  be  true,  this  self- 
condemnation  of  his  behaviour,  and  the  abstinence  which 
he  imposed  on  himself  throughout  his  life,  is  a  species  of  he- 
roism not  less  to  be  admired. 

His  first  step  was  to  grant  assistance  to  his  brother-in- 
law,  the  duke  of  Holstein.  Eight  thousand  men  were  im- 
mediately sent  into  Pomerania,  a  province  bordering  upon 
Holstein,  to  fortify  the  duke  against  the  attacks  of  the  Danes. 
And  indeed  the  duke  had  need  of  them.  His  dominions  were 
laid  waste,  his  castle  of  Gottorp  taken,  and  the  city  of 
Tonningen  pressed  by  an  obstinate  siege,  to  which  the  king 
of  Denmark  had  come  in  person  in  order  to  enjoy  a  conquest 
which  he  imagined  certain.    This  spark  began  to  throw  the 


42 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


empire  into  a  flame.  On  the  one  side  the  Saxon  troops  of 
the  king  of  Poland,  those  of  Brandenburgh,  Wolfenbuttle, 
and  Hesse  Cassel,  advanced  to  join  the  Danes.  On  the 
other,  the  eight  thousand  men  sent  by  the  king  of  Sweden, 
the  troops  of  Hanover  and  Zell,  and  three  regiments  of 
Dutch,  came  to  assist  the  duke.  At  the  time  the  little  coun- 
try of  Holstein  became  thus  the  theatre  of  war,  two  squad- 
rons, the  one  from  England,  and  the  other  from  Holland, 
appeared  in  the  Baltick.  These  two  states  were  guarantees 
of  the  treaty  of  peace  of  Altena,  which  treaty  the  Danes  had 
broken  through ;  the  English  and  Dutch  therefore  were  in 
earnest,  at  this  time,  to  support  the  oppressed  duke  of  Hol- 
stein, because  it  was  for  the  interest  of  their  commerce  to 
check  the  growing  power  of  the  king  of  Denmark.  They 
knew  that  the  Danish  king,  being  once  master  of  the  pas- 
sage of  the  Sound,  would  impose  the  most  oppressive  laws 
on  the  mercantile  nations,  as  soon  as  ever  he  was  in  a  situa- 
tion to  do  it  with  impunity.  This  mutual  interest  has  long 
engaged  the  Dutch  and  English  to  maintain,  as  much  as  pos- 
sible, the  balance  of  power  between  the  northern  princes : 
they,  therefore,  joined  the  young  king  of  Sweden,  who  ap- 
peared in  danger  of  being  crushed  by  the  combination  of  so 
many  enemies,  and  supported  him  for  the  same  reason  that 
the  others  attacked  him — because  they  looked  upon  him  as 
incapable  of  defending  himself. 

Charles  was  amusing  himself  with  hunting  the  bear,  when 
he  received  the  news  of  the  Saxons  having  made  an  irrup- 
tion into  Livonia:  the  manner  in  which  he  practised  this 
amusement  was  as  novel  as  dangerous ;  he  used  no  other 
arms  than  forked  sticks,  and  a  small  net  fixed  to  some  trees ; 
a  b'ear  of  an  inconceivable  size  ran  directly  at  the  king,  who 
brought  it  down  to  the  ground,  after  a  long  struggle,  by  the 
aid  only  of  the  net  and  his  stick.  It  must  be  confessed, 
that,  in  reflecting  on  such  adventures,  on  the  personal  strength 
of  King  Augustus,  and  the  travels  of  Czar  Peter,  one  would 
be  apt  to  think  we  lived  in  the  days  of  Hercules  and  Theseus. 

Charles  set  out  on  his  first  campaign  the  eighth  of  May, 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


43 


new  style,  in  the  year  1700;  when  he  quitted  Stockholm, 
to  which  he  never  after  returned.  An  innumerable  crowd 
of  people  accompanied  him  as  far  as  the  port  of  Carlscroon, 
offering  up  prayers  for  his  success,  and  with  tears  expressing 
their  admiration.  Before  he  left  Sweden,  he  established  at 
Stockholm  a  Council  of  Defence,  composed  of  several  sena- 
tors, whose  duty  it  was  to  take  care  of  every  thing  that  re- 
garded the  navy,  the  army,  and  the  fortifications  of  the  coun- 
try. The  body  of  the  senate  was  to  regulate,  provisionally, 
every  thing  in  the  interior  part  of  the  kingdom.  Having  thus 
established  a  regular  mode  of  administration  in  his  dominion, 
his  mind,  devested  of  every  other  care,  was  entirely  taken 
up  with  the  war.  His  fleet  consisted  of  three  and  forty 
ships;  that  in  which  he  himself  sailed,  was  called  "The 
King  Charles,''  and  was  the  largest  that  had  ever  been  seen, 
carrying  an  hundred  and  twenty  guns.  In  this  ship  Count 
Piper,  his  first  minister  of  state,  General  Renschild,  and 
the  Count  de  Guiscard,  ambassador  from  France  to  Sweden, 
embarked  along  with  him.  He  joined  the  squadrons  of  the 
allies,  when  the  Danish  fleet  declining  the  combat,  gave  the 
three  combined  fleets  an  opportunity  of  approaching  Copen- 
hagen nigh  enough  to  throw  into  it  several  shells, 

Certain  it  is,  that  it  was  the  king  himself  who  then  pro- 
posed to  General  Renschild  to  make  a  descent,  and  to  be- 
siege Copenhagen  by  land,  while  it  was  thus  blocked  up  by 
sea.  Renschild  was  astonished  at  a  proposal  which  showed 
equal  marks  of  skill  and  courage  in  a  prince  so  young  and 
so  unexperienced.  Every  thing  was  immediately  prepared 
for  the  descent,  and  orders  given  for  the  embarkation  of  five 
thousand  men,  who  lay  upon  the  coasts  of  Sweden,  and 
joined  the  troops  they  had  on  board.  The  king  quitted  his 
large  ship,  and  went  into  a  frigate  of  less  weight :  they  then 
began  by  sending  off  three  hundred  grenadiers,  in  small  shal- 
lops ;  and  among  these  were  some  small  flat  bottomed  boats, 
which  carried  the  fascines,  chevaux-de-frise,  and  the  imple- 
ments of  the  pioneers ;  then  followed  five  hundred  men  in 
other  shallops ;  and  lastly  came  the  king's  chosen  ships  of 


44 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


war,  together  with  two  English  and  two  Dutch  frigates,  who 
were  to  favour  the  debarkation  under  cover  of  their  cannon. 

Copenhagen,  the  capital  of  Denmark,  is  situated  in  the 
Isle  of  Zealand,  in  the  midst  of  a  beautiful  plain,  having  the 
Sound  on  the  north  west,  and  the  Baltick  Sea  on  the  east, 
where  the  king  of  Sweden  -then  lay.  At  this  unexpected 
movement  of  the  vessels,  which  threatened  a  descent,  the 
inhabitants,  confounded  by  the  inactivity  of  their  own  fleet, 
and  by  the  movements  of  the  Swedish  vessels,  waited  with 
terror  to  see  on  what  part  the  storm  would  fall.  The  Swe- 
dish fleet  stopped  over  against  Humblebeck,  about  seven 
miles  from  Copenhagen,  at  which  place  the  Danes  instantly 
assembled  their  cavalry.  Their  foot  were  posted  behind  en- 
trenchments, and  all  the  artillery  they  could  bring  up  was 
turned  against  the  Swedes. 

The  king  then  quitted  his  frigate,  and  got  into  the  first 
barge,  at  the  head  of  his  guards;  when  the  French  ambas- 
sador standing  next  to  him,  he  said  to  him  in  Latin,  (for  he 
would  never  speak  French,)  "You  have  nothing,  Mr.  Am- 
bassador, to  do  with  the  Danes :  you  need  £•)  no  farther,  if 
you  please."  "  Sire,"  answered  the  Count  de  Guiscard,  in 
French,  "  the  king  my  master  ordered  me  to  reside  with 
your  majesty ;  I  flatter  myself  you  will  not  banish  me  your 
court,  which  was  never  more  brilliant  than  it  is  to-day."  In 
saying  this,  he  gave  his  hand  to  the  king,  who  leaped  into 
the  barge,  into  which  Count  Piper  and  the  ambassador  im- 
mediately followed.  They  advanced  under  shelter  of  the 
cannon  of  the  ships  which  favoured  their  landing.  The 
long  boats  were  as  yet  but  three  hundred  paces  from  the 
shore,  when  Charles,  impatient  at  their  slow  motion,  threw 
himself  from  his  barge  into  the  sea,  sword  in  hand,  having 
the  water  above  his  waist :  his  ministers,  the  French  ambas- 
sador, the  officers  and  soldiers,  immediately  followed  his  ex- 
ample, and  marched  to  the  shore,  in  spite  of  a  shower  of 
the  enemy -s  musketry.  The  king,  who  had  never  in  his 
life  heard  a  volley  of  muskets  loaded  with  ball,  demanded 
of  Major  General  Stuart,  whom  he  perceived  near  him,  what 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


45 


it  was  that,  occasioned  the  whizzing  in  his  ears  ?  u  It  is  the 
noise  of  the  musket-balls  that  they  fire  upon  you,"  said  the 
major  to  him.  "Good!"  replied  the  king;  "then  from 
henceforward  that  shall  be  my  music."  At  this  instant  the 
major,  who  had  explained  the  noise  made  by  the  musket- 
shot,  received  one  in  his  shoulder ;  and  a  lieutenant  dropped 
down  dead  on  the  other  side  of  the  king. 

It  generally  happens  that  the  troops  who  are  attacked  in 
their  trenches  are  beaten,  because  those  who  make  the  at- 
tack always  possess  an  impetuosity,  which  those  who  merely 
defend  themselves  can  never  arrive  at ;  besides,  the  waiting 
the  enemy's  approach  is  often  an  acknowledgment  qf  their 
own  weakness,  and  of  their  adversary's  superiority.  The 
Danish  cavalry  and  militia,  after  a  feeble  resistance,  took  to 
flight.  The  king,  thus  become  master  of  their  intrenchments, 
fell  upon  his  knees  to  return  thanks  to  God  for  this  first  suc- 
cess of  his  arms.  He  immediately  caused  redoubts  to  be 
raised  towards  the  town,  and  marked  himself  a  place  for  the 
encampment.  In  the  mean  time,  he  sent  back  his  transports 
to  Schonen,  a  part  of  Sweden  bordering  upon  Copenhagen, 
for  a  reinforcement  of  nine  thousand  men.  Every  thing  con- 
spired to  favour  the  vivacity  of  Charles  :  these  troops  were 
already  assembled  on  the  shore,  and  ready  to  embark ;  ac- 
cordingly the  next  day  a  favourable  wind  brought  them  to  him. 

This  transportation  was  effected  in  the  sight  of  the  Danish 
fleet,  which  did  not  dare  to  advance.  Copenhagen  being 
intimidated,  immediately  despatched  deputies  to  the  king,  to 
beseech  him  not  to  bombard  the  town.  He  received  them 
on  horseback,  at  the  head  of  his  regiment  of  guards,  and  the 
deputies  threw  themselves  on  their  knees  before  him.  He 
made  the  town  pay  him  four  hundred  thousand  rix-dollars, 
and  ordered  them  to  bring  in  all  sorts  of  provisions  to  the 
camp,  for  which  he  promised  faithfully  to  pay.  They  car- 
ried him  the  provisions,  because  it  was  necessary  to  obey, 
although  they  did  not  much  expect  that  the  conquerors  would 
have  so  much  condescension :  the  carriers,  however,  were 
greatly  astonished  at  being  paid  generously,  and  without  de- 


46 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  JUL 


lay,  by  the  lowest  soldiers  in  the  army.  There  had  long 
prevailed  among  the  Swedish  troops  a  strict  discipline,  which 
had  not  a  little  contributed  to  this  victory  ;  and  the  young 
king  increased  its  severity.  There  was  not  a  soldier  that 
dared  to  refuse  payment  for  what  he  bought,  still  less  to  go 
a  plundering,  nor  even  to  go  out  of  the  camp.  He  did  still 
more  ;  for  in  a  victory  his  troops  did  not  strip  the  dead  till 
they  had  received  his  permission ;  and  he  easily  brought 
them  to  observe  this  law.  Prayers  were  regularly  said  in 
his  camp  twice  a  day,  at  seven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and 
at  four  in  the  afternoon ;  at  which  he  never  failed  to  assist 
in  person,  and  to  set  the  soldiers  an  example  of  piety  as  well  as 
of  valour.  His  camp,  much  better  regulated  than  even  the  city 
of  Copenhagen,  had  every  thing  in  abundance ;  the  peasants 
preferred  selling  their  commodities  to  the  Swedes,  their  ene- 
mies, rather  than  to  the  Danes,  who  did  not  pay  them  so 
well.  Even  the  citizens  were  obliged  to  come,  more  than 
once,  to  seek  in  the  camp  of  the  king  of  Sweden  those  pro- 
visions which  their  own  markets  failed  to  furnish. 

The  king  of  Denmark  was  at  this  time  in  Holstein,  whither 
he  seemed  to  have  gone  for  no  other  purpose  than  to  raise 
the  siege  of  Tonningen.  He  saw  the  Baltick  Sea  covered 
with  the  enemy's  ships,  a  young  conqueror  already  master 
of  Zealand,  and  ready  to  seize  on  his  capital.  He  therefore 
caused  it  to  be  published  throughout  his  dominions,  that  those 
who  took  up  arms  against  the  Swedes  should  have  their 
liberty.  This  declaration  was  of  great  weight  in  a  country 
formerly  free,  but  in  which,  at  that  time,  all  the  peasants, 
and  even  many  of  the  citizens,  were  slaves.  Charles  sent 
word  to  the  king  of  Denmark,  that  he  made  war  only  to 
oblige  him  to  make  peace,  and  that  he  must  either  resolve 
to  do  justice  to  the  duke  of  Holstein,  or  see  Copenhagen  de- 
stroyed, and  his  kingdom  put  to  the  fire  and  sword.  The 
Dane  was  too  happy  in  having  to  do  with  a  conqueror  who 
piqued  himself  on  his  justice.  A  congress  was  assembled 
in  the  town  of  Travendal,  on  the  frontiers  of  Holstein.  The 
king  of  Sweden  would  not  suffer  the  negotiations  to  be  de- 


G  OF  SWEDEN. 


47 


layed  by  the  arts  of  ministers,  but  was  determined  that  the 
treaty  should  be  finished  with  the  same  rapidity  with  which 
he  had  descended  into  Zealand.  It  was,  in  effect,  conclu- 
ded on  the  fifth  of  August,  to  the  advantage  of  the  duke  of 
Holstein,  who  was  indemnified  for  all  the  expenses  of  the 
war,  and  delivered  from  oppression.  The  king  of  Sweden, 
satisfied  with  having  succoured  his  ally,  and  humbled  his 
enemy,  would  accept  of  nothing  for  himself.  Thus  Charles 
XII.,  at  eighteen  years  of  age,  began  and  finished  this  war 
in  less  than  six  weeks. 

It  was  precisely  at  this  time  that  the  king  of  Poland  in- 
vested the  town  of  Riga,  the  capital  of  Livonia,  and  the  czar 
also  advanced,  on  the  side  of  the  east,  at  the  head  of  near  a 
hundred  thousand  men.  Riga  was  defended  by  the  old 
Count  d'Alberg,  a  Swedish  general,  who,  at  the  age  of  eighty, 
joined  the  fire  of  a  young  man  to  the  experience  of  sixty 
campaigns.  Count  Fleming,  afterwards  minister  of  Poland, 
a  great  man  in  the  field,  as  well  as  in  the  cabinet,  and  Pat- 
kul  the  Livonian,  pressed  the  siege,  under  the  inspection  of 
the  king ;  but  in  spite  of  several  advantages  that  the  besie- 
gers had  gained,  the  experience  of  the  old  Count  d'Alberg 
rendered  their  efforts  useless,  and  the  king  of  Poland  de- 
spaired of  taking  the  town.  He  at  last  laid  hold  of  an  ho- 
nourable pretence  for  raising  the  siege.  Riga  was  full  of 
merchandise  belonging  to  the  Dutch.  The  States  General 
ordered  their  ambassador  at  the  court  of  Augustus  to  make 
representations  to  him  on  that  head.  The  king  of  Poland 
needed  not  much  intreaty.  He  consented  to  raise  the  siege 
rather  than  occasion  the  least  damage  to  his  allies ;  who  were 
not  astonished  at  this  excess  of  complaisance,  of  which  they 
knew  the  true  cause. 

There  remained,  then,  nothing  more  for  Charles  to  do,  to 
finish  his  first  campaign,  than  to  march  against  his  rival  in 
glory,  Peter  Alexiowitz.  He  was  the  more  exasperated 
against  him,  as  there  were  at  that  time  at  Stockholm,  three 
Muscovite  ambassadors,  who  had  just  sworn  to  the  renewal 
of  an  inviolable  peace.    He  could  not  comprehend,  as  lie 

9 


48 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLLV  XII. 


piqued  himself  on  a  most  rigid  integrity,  that  a  legislator, 
like  the  czar,  could  make  a  jest  of  what  ought  to  be  sacred. 
The  young  prince,  full  of  honour  himself,  did  not  imagine 
that  there  could  be  a  system  of  morality  for  kings  different 
from  that  for  individuals.  The  emperor  of  Muscovy  had  just 
published  a  manifesto,  which  he  had  much  better  have  sup- 
pressed. He  there  alleged,  that  the  reason  of  his  making 
war  was,  that  he  had  not  sufficient  honour  paid  him  when 
he  passed  incognito  through  Riga ;  and  likewise,  that  they  sold 
their  provisions  to  his  ambassadors  at  too  dear  a  rate.  It 
was  for  these  injuries  that  he  ravaged  Ingria  with  eighty 
thousand  men. 

He  appeared  before  Narva^at  the  head  of  this  great  army, 
on  the  first  of  October,  at  a.  season  of  the  year  more  severe 
in  this  climate,  than  it  is  in  the  month  of  January  at  Paris. 
The  czar,  who  in  this  inclement  season,  would  sometimes 
ride  post  four  hundred  leagues  to  see  a  mine  or  a  canal,  was 
not  more  careful  of  his  troops  than  of  himself.  Besides,  he 
knew  that  the  Swedes,  since  the  time  of  Gustavus  Adolphus, 
could  make  war  in  the  midst  of  winter  as  well  as  in  sum- 
mer ;  he,  therefore,  wished  to  accustom  the  Russians  like- 
wise to  know  no  distinction  of  seasons,  and  to  render  them, 
one  day,  not  in  the  least  inferior  to  the  Swedes.  In  this 
manner,  at  a  time  when  the  ice  and  snow  obliged  other  na- 
tions, even  in  temperate  climates,  to  suspend  the  war,  did 
the  Czar  Peter  besiege  Narva,  within  thirty  degrees  of  the 
pole,  while  Charles  XII.  advanced  to  relieve  it.  The  czar  nc 
sooner  arrived  before  the  place,  than  he  hastened  to  put  in 
practice  what  he  had  just  learned  in  his  travels.  He  mark- 
ed out  his  camp,  fortified  it  on  every  side,  raised  redoubts 
at  due  distances,  and  opened  the  trenches  himself.  He  had 
given  the  command  of  his  army  to  the  Duke  de  Croi,  a  Ger- 
man, and  a  skilful  general,  but  who  at  that  time  was  little 
assisted  by  the  Russian  officers.  As  for  himself,  he  held  no 
other  rank  in  his  own  troops  than  that  of  a  lieutenant.  He 
thus  set  the  example  of  military  obedience  to  the  nobility, 
who  were  till  then  undisciplined,  and  who  were  only  used 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


49 


to  govern  ill-armed  slaves  without  experience  or  order.  It 
was  not  to  be  wondered  at,  that  he  who  turned  carpenter  at 
Amsterdam  to  procure  himself  fleets,  should  serve  as  lieu- 
tenant at  Narva- to  teach  his  country  the  art  of  war. 

The  Russians  are  robust,  indefatigable,  and  perhaps  as 
brave  as  the  Swedes;  but  time  and  discipline  ulone  can  ren- 
der troops  warlike  and  invincible.  The  only  regiments  from 
which  any  thing  was  expected  were  commanded  by  German 
officers,  but  they  were  few  in  number.  The  rest  were  bar- 
barians, forced  from  the  forests,  and  covered  with  the  skins 
of  wild  beasts ;  some  were  armed  with  arrows,  and  some 
with  clubs  ;  few  of  them  had  fusees ;  none  had  seen  a  regu- 
lar siege ;  nor  was  there  a  good  gunner  in  the  whole  army. 
A  hundred  and  fifty  cannon,  which  ought  to  have  reduced 
the  little  town  of  Narva  to  ashes,  were  scarcely  able  to  make 
a  breach ;  while,  on  the  other  hand,  the  artillery  of  the  city 
destroyed,  at  every  discharge,  whole  ranks  of  the  enemy  in 
their  trenches.  Narva  was  almost  without  fortifications ; 
and  the  Boron  de  Hoorn,  who  commanded  it,  had  not  a  thou- 
sand regulars  ;  and  yet  this  innumerable  army  could  not  re- 
duce it  in  ten  weeks. 

It  was  the  fifteenth  of  November  when  the  czar  was  ap- 
prized that  the  king  of  Sweden,  having  crossed  the  sea  with 
two  hundred  transports,  was  upon  the  march  to  the  relief  of 
Narva.  The  Swedes  were  but  twenty  thousand  strong;  yet 
the  czar  had  no  superiority  but  in  number.  Far,  then,  from 
despising  his  enemy,  he  employed  every  art  he  was  master 
of  to  overpower  him.  Not  content  with  eighty  thousand 
men,  he  prepared  another  army  to  oppose  him,  and  to  cross 
him  at  every  turn.  He  had  already  ordered  near  thirty  thou- 
sand men,  who  advanced  by  long  marches  from  Pleskow. 
He  then  took  a  step  which  would  have  rendered  him  con- 
temptible, if  a  legislator  who  had  performed  so  many  great 
exploits  could  be  made  so.  He  quitted  his  camp,  where  his 
presence  was  necessary,  in  quest  of  this  fresh  body  of  men, 
which  might  have  arrived  very  well  without  him,  and  ap- 
peared by  this  behaviour  to  be  afraid  of  engaging  in  an  in- 


50 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


trenched  camp,  a  young  and  inexperienced  prince  who  might  - 
come  to  attack  him. 

But  be  this  as  it  may,  he  wanted  to  inclose  Charles  be- 
tween two  armies.  This  was  not  all ;  thirty  thousand  men, 
detached  from  the  camp  which  lay  before  Narva,  were  posted 
a  league  from  the  city,  on  the  road  along  which  the  King  of 
Sweden  was  to  pass ;  twenty  thousand  Strelitz  were  placed 
at  a  greater  distance  on  the  same  road,  jmd  five  thousand 
others  formed  an  advanced  guard.  All  these  troops  Charles 
was  obliged  to  march  over  before  he  could  arrive  at  the  camp, 
which  was  fortified  with  a  rampart  and  a  double  ditch.  The 
king  of  Sweden  had  landed  at  Pernaw,  in  the  Gulph  of 
Riga,  with  about  sixteen  thousand  of  his  infantry,  and  a  little 
more  than  four  thousand  horse.  From  Pernaw  he  hastened 
his  march  to  Revel,  followed  by  all  his  cavalry,  and  only  four 
thousand  foot.  As  he  always  marched  on  first,  without 
waiting  for  the  rest  of  his  troops,  he  soon  found  himself, 
with  his  eight  thousand  men  only,  near  the  advanced  posts 
of  the  enemy.  He  did  not  hesitate  a  moment  about  attack- 
ing them  ;  which  he  did,  one  after  the  other,  without  giving 
them  time  to  be  acquainted  with  what  a  small  number  they 
had  to  engage.  The  Muscovites,  seeing  the  Swedes  thus 
rush  upon  them,  thought  they  had  the  whole  army  to  en- 
counter, and  the  advanced  guard  of  five  thousand  men,  who 
were  posted  among  the  rocks,  a  station  in  which  one  hun- 
dred resolute  men  might  have  repulsed  a  whole  army,  be- 
took themselves  to  flight  on  the  first  approach  of  the  Swedes. 
The  twenty  thousand  men  who  were  behind,  seeing  their 
companions  fly,  took  the  alarm,  and  carried  disorder  with 
them  into  the  camp.  All  the  posts  were  carried  in  two  days ; 
and  what  upon  other  occasions  would  have  been  counted  for 
three  victories,  did  not  retard  the  march  of  the  king  a  single 
hour.  At  last  he  appeared,  with  his  eight  thousand  men, 
fatigued  with  so  long  a  march,  before  a  camp  of  eighty  thou- 
sand Muscovites,  defended  by  one  hundred  and  fifty  pieces 
of  cannon ;  and  scarcely  had  the  troops  taken  a  short  repose, 
when,  without  deliberating,  he  gave  orders  for  the  attack. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


51 


The  signal  was  two  fusees,  and  the  word  in  German, 
"  With  the  aid  of  God."  A  general  officer  having  repre- 
sented to  him  the  greatness  of  the  danger,  "  Why !  do  you 
imagine,"  said  he,  to  him,  "that  with  my  eight  thousand 
brave  Swedes,  I  .shall  not  be  able  to  march  over  the  bodies 
of  eighty  thousand  Muscovites  ?"  A  moment  after,  fearing 
that  there  appeared  a  little  gasconade  in  these  words,  he  run 
after  the  officer  himself:  "Are  you  not,  then,  of  my  opi- 
nion ?"  said  he  to  him :  "  Have  I  not  a  double  advantage 
over  my  enemies  ?  The  one,  that  their  cavalry  can  do  them 
no  service ;  and  the  other,  that  the  place  being  narrow,  their 
great  number  will  but  incommode  them;  and  therefore  I 
shall  in  reality  be  stronger  than  they."  The  officer  did  not 
dare  to  be  of  a  different  opinion  ;  and  they  marched  against 
the  Muscovites  about  mid-day,  on  the  10th  of  November, 
1700. 

As  soon  as  the  cannon  of  the  Swedes  had  made  a  breach 
in  their  intrenchments,  they  advanced  with  their  bayonets 
fixed  on  their  fusees,  having  at  their  backs  a  furious  shower 
of  snow,  which  came  in  the  face  of  the  enemy.  The  Rus- 
sians stood  their  ground  for  half  an  hour,  without  quitting 
their  side  of  the  trenches.  The  king  made  his  attack  upon 
the  right  of  the  camp,  where  the  quarters  of  the  czar  were, 
hoping  to  encounter  him,  not  knowing  that  the  emperor  him- 
self was  gone  to  seek  the  forty  thousand  men  who  were  ex- 
pected every  moment  to  arrive.  At  the  first  discharge  of 
the  enemy's  muskets,  the  king  received  a  shot  in  his  neck; 
but  it  being  a  spent  ball,  it  lodged  in  the  plaits  of  his  black 
cravat,  and  did  him  no  harm.  His  horse  was  killed  under 
him.  M.  de  Spart  told  me,  that  the  king  sprung  nimbly  up- 
on another  horse,  saying,  "  These  gentry  here  make  me  do 
my  exercise;"  and  continued  fighting  and  giving  orders  with 
the  same  presence  of  mind.  After  three  hours  engagement, 
the  intrenchments  were  forced  on  every  side.  The  king 
followed  the  right  of  the  enemy  as  far  as  the  river  Narva 
with  his  left  wing,  if  about  four  thousand  men  who  were 
pursuing  near  forty  thousand  can  be  so  called.    The  bridge 


52 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


breaking  under  the  fugitives,  the  river  was  in  a  moment  fill- 
ed with  the  dead.  The  others,  desperate,  returned  to  their 
camp,  without  knowing  where  they  went ;  they  there  found 
some  barracks,  behind  which  they  posted  themselves.  There 
they  defended  themselves  for  some  time,  not  being  able  to 
make  their  escape;  but  at  last  their  generals,  Dolgorouky, 
Gollofkin,  and  Federowits,  came  and  surrendered  themselves 
to  the  king,  and  laid  their  arms  at  his  feet.  At  the  same 
time  arrived  the  Duke  de  Croi,  general  of  the  army,  who 
likewise  surrendered  himself,  with  thirty  officers. 

Charles  received  all  these  prisoners  of  distinction  with  as 
much  politeness,  and  in  as  friendly  a  manner,  as  if  he  had  * 
been  paying  them  the  honours  of  an  entertainment  in  his 
own  court.  He  detained  none  but  the  generals.  All  the 
subaltern  officers  and  soldiers  were  conducted,  unarmed,  as 
far  as  the  river  Narva ;  and  were  there  furnished  with  boats, 
that  they  might  pass  over  to  their  own  country.  In  the  mean 
time,  night  approached,  and  the  Muscovites  on  the  right  still 
continued  fighting.  The  Swedes  had  not  lost  fifteen  hun- 
dred men;  while  eighteen  thousand  Muscovites  had  been 
killed  in  their  intrenchments,  a  great  number  drowned,  and 
many  had  passed  the  river;  yet  there  still  remained  a  sufficient 
number  in  the  camp  to  have  entirely  destroyed  the  Swedes. 
But  it  is  not  the  number  of  the  dead,  it  is  the  terror  of  the  survi- 
vors that  occasions  the  loss  of  battles.  The  king  took  the  ad- 
vantage of  the  small  part  of  the  day  that  remained,  to  seize  the 
enemy's  artillery.  He  posted  himself  advantageously  between 
their  camp  and  the  town,  where  he  slept  some  hours  on  the 
ground,  wrapped  up  in  his  cloak,  waiting  for  day-break,  that 
he  might  fall  on  the  enemy's  left  wing,  which  was  not 
yet  entirely  routed.  But  at  two  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
General  Wade,  who  commanded  that  wing,  having  heard  of 
the  gracious  reception  the  king  had  given  to  the  other  gene- 
rals, and  in  what  manner  he  had  dismissed  all  the  subaltern 
officers  and  soldiers,  sent  to  beseech  the  same  favour.  The 
conqueror  told  him,  that  he  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  approach 
at  the  head  of  his  army,  and  lay  down  his  arms  and  colours 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


53 


at  his  feet.  Accordingly,  this  general  soon  after  appeared 
with  his  Muscovites,  who  were  about  thirty  thousand  in 
number.  They  marched  uncovered,  soldiers  and  officers, 
through  less  than  seven  thousand  Swedes.  The  soldiers,  in 
passing  before  the  king,  threw  their  guns  and  swords  upon 
the  ground,  and  the  officers  laid  their  ensigns  and  colours  at 
his  feet.  He  caused  the  whole  of  this  multitude  to  be  con- 
ducted over  the  river,  without  detaining  a  single  soldier  pri- 
soner. If  he  had  kept  them,  the  number  of  the  prisoners 
would  have  been  at  least  five  times  greater  than  that  of  the 
conquerors. 

He  then  entered  victorious  into  Narva,  accompanied  by  the 
Duke  de  Croi,  and  other  general  officers  of  the  Muscovites. 
He  caused  their  swords  to  be  returned  them;  and  knowing 
that  they  wanted  money,  and  that  the  merchants  of  Narva 
would  not  lend  them  any,  he  sent  a  thousand  ducats  to  the 
Duke  de  Croi,  and  live  hundred  to  each  of  the  Muscovite 
officers,  who  could  not  cease  admiring  this  treatment,  of 
which  they  had  not  even  an  idea.  A  relation  of  the  victory- 
was  immediately  drawn  up  to  send  to  Stockholm,  and  to  the 
allies  of  Sweden  ;  but  the  king  struck  out  with  his  own  hand 
every  thing  which  appeared  too  much  in  praise  of  himself, 
and  to  reflect  on  the  czar.  His  modesty  could  not,  however, 
prevent  them  from  striking  at  Stockholm  several  medals,  to 
perpetuate  the  memory  of  those  events.  Among  others, 
they  struck  one  which  represented  the  king  on  one  side, 
standing  on  a  pedestal,  to  which  were  chained  a  Muscovite, 
a  Dane,  and  a  Pole ;  on  the  other  side  was  a  Hercules,  armed 
with  his  club,  having  under  his  feet  a  Cerberus,  with  this  in- 
scription :  Tres  uno  contrudit  ictu. 

Among  the  prisoners  taken  at  the  battle,  of  Narva,  there 
was  one  who  exhibited  a  striking  instance  of  the  revolutions 
of  fortune :  he  was  the  eldest  son  and  heir  of  the  king  of 
Georgia;  he  was  called  the  Czarasis  Artschilou.  This  title 
of  czarasis  signifies  a  prince,  or  son  of  the  czar,  among  the 
Tartars,  as  well  as  in  Muscovy ;  for  the  word  czar,  or  tsar, 
meant  a  king  among  the  ancient  Scythians,  from  whom  aU 

5* 


54 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XIL 


these  people  are  descended,  and  is  not  derived  from  the  Cae- 
sars of  Rome,  so  long  unknown  to  these  barbarians.  His 
father  Mitelleski,  czar  and  master  of  the  most  beautiful  part 
of  the  country  which  lies  between  the  mountains  of  Ararat 
and  the  eastern  coasts  of  the  Black  Sea,  had  been  driven 
from  his  throne  by  his  own  subjects  in  1638,  and  had  cho- 
sen rather  to  throw  himself  into  the  arms  of  the  emperor  of 
Muscovy,  than  have  recourse  to  the  Turks.    The  son  of  this 
king,  at  the  age  of  nineteen,  desired  to  follow  Peter  the  Great 
in  his  expedition  against  the  Swedes,  and  was  taken  fighting 
by  some  Finland  soldiers,  who  had  already  stripped  him,  and 
were  going  to  kill  him,  when  Count  Renschild  rescued  him 
from  their  hands,  clothed  him,  and  presented  him  to  his 
master.    Charles  sent  him  to  Stockholm,  where  this  unhap- 
py prince  died  in  a  few  years  after.    The  king,  on  seeing 
him  depart,  could  not  help  making,  in  the  hearing  of  his  of- 
ficers, a  natural  reflection  on  the  strange  destiny  of  an  Asi- 
atic prince,  born  at  the  foot  of  Mount  Caucasus,  going  to  live 
a  captive  among  the  snows  of  Sweden.    "  It  is,"  says  he, 
"  as  if  I  were  one  day  to  be  a  prisoner  among  the  Tartars  of 
the  Crimea."  These  words  made  no  impression  at  the  time; 
but  in  the  sequel,  they  were  remembered  too  well,  when  an 
event  turned  them  into  a  prediction. 

The  czar  was  advancing  by  long  marches  with  the  army 
of  forty  thousand  Russians,  thinking  to  surround  his  enemy 
on  all  sides ;  when  he  heard,  before  he  had  proceeded  half 
way,  of  the  battle  of  Narva,  and  the  dispersion  of  his  whole 
camp.  He  was  not  so  obstinate  as  to  think  of  attacking  with 
hi.s  forty  thousand  men,  without  experience  or  discipline,  a 
conqueror  who  had  just  destroyed  eighty  thousand  men  in 
their  intrenchrsents.  He  returned  upon  his  footsteps,  and 
pursued,  without  ceasing,  the  design  of  disciplining  his  troops, 
at  the  same  time  that  he  civilized  his  subjects.  "  I  know 
very  well,"  said  he,  "  the  Swedes  will  beat  us  for  a  long 
time,  but  in  the  end,  they  themselves  will  teach  us  to  beat 
them."  Moscow,  his  capital,  was  in  terror  and  confusion 
at  this  defeat.    Nay,  such  was  the  pride  and  ignorance  of 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


55 


the  people,  that  they  imagined  they  had  been  conquered  by 
a  power  more  than  human,  and  that  the  Swedes  were  real 
magicians.  This  opinion  was  so  general,  that  public  prayers 
were  ordered  to  be  put  up  on  this  occasion  to  St.  Nicholas, 
patron  of  Muscovy.  This  prayer  is  too  singular  not  be  re- 
peated.   It  is  as  follows  : 

"  0  thou,  who  art  our  perpetual  consoler  in  all  our  adver- 
sities, great  St.  Nicholas,  infinitely  powerful,  by  what  sin 
have  we  ofFended  thee  in  our  sacrifices,  kneelings.  bowings, 
and  thanksgivings,  that  thou  hast  thus  abandoned  us  ?  -  We 
have  implored  thy  assistance  against  these  terrible,  insolent, 
enraged,  dreadful,  and  unconquerable  destroyers,  when  like 
lions  and  bears  who  have  lost  their  young,  they  have  attacked 
us,  terrified,  wounded,  and  killed  by  thousands,  us  thy  peo- 
ple. As  it  is  impossible  that  this  can  be  without  sorcery 
and  enchantment,  we  beseech  thee,  0  great  St.  Nicholas,  to 
be  our  champion  and  our  standard-bearer,  to  deliver  us  from 
this  tribe  of  sorcerers,  and  to  drive  them  far  from  our  fron- 
tiers, with  the  recompense  that  is  their  due." 

In  the  mean  time  that  the  Muscovites  were  complaining 
to  St.  Nicholas  of  their  defeat,  Charles  XII.  returned  thanks 
to  God,  and  prepared  himself  for  new  victories. 

The  king  of  Poland  had  reason  to  expect  that  his  enemy, 
being  conqueror  over  the  Danes  and  Muscovites,  would  pre- 
sently fall  upon  him ;  he  therefore  united  himself  firmer 
than  ever  with  the  czar.  These  two  princes  agreed  upon 
an  interview,  that  they  might  take  their  measures  in  concert. 
They  met  at  Birzen,  a  small  town  in  Lithuania,  without  any 
of  those  formalities,  which  only  serve  to  retard  business,  and 
which  were  not  suited  either  to  their  situation  or  their  hu- 
mour. The  princes  of  the  north  see  each  other  with»a  fa- 
miliarity which  is  not  yet  established  in  the  southern  parts 
of  Europe.  Peter  and  Augustus  passed  five  days  together 
in  pleasures  which  bordered  upon  excess ;  for  the  czar, 
though  he  wanted  to  reform  his  nation,  could  never  correct 
in  himself  his  dangerous  propensity  to  debauchery. 

The  king  of  Poland  engaged  himself  to  furnish  the  czar 


56 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


with  fifty  thousand  German  troops,  which  were  to  be  hired 
of  different  princes,  and  for  which  the  czar  was  to  pay.  The 
czar,  on  his  side,  was  to  send  fifty  thousand  Russians  into  Po- 
land, to  learn  the  art  of  war,  and  promised  to  pay  to  Augus- 
tus three  millions  of  rix  dollars  in  two  years.  This  treaty, 
if  it  had  been  executed,  might  have  been  fatal  to  the  King 
of  Sweden  :  it  was  a  ready  and  sure  method  of  renderiug 
the  Muscovites  good  soldiers ;  it  was,  perhaps,  forging  chains 
for  a  part  of  Europe. 

Charles  prepared  himself  to  prevent  the  king  of  Poland 
from  reaping  the  fruit  of  this  league.  After  having  passed 
the  winter  at  Narva,  he  appeared  in  Livonia,  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Riga,  the  very  town  which  Augustus  had  in 
vain  besieged.  The  Saxon  troops  were  posted  along  the 
river  Duna,  which  is  very  broad  in  that  place:  Charles,  who 
was  on  the  other  side  of  the  river,  was  obliged  to  dispute 
their  passage.  The  Saxons  were  not  commanded  by  their 
prince,  he  being  sick;  but  were  headed  by  the  Marshal 
de  Stenau,  who  took  the  office  of  general ;  under  whom 
Prince  Ferdinand,  duke  of  Courland,  commanded;  and  that 
very  Patkul  now  defended  his  country  against  Charles  XII. , 
sword  in  hand,  who  formerly  vindicated  its  rights  with  his 
pen,  at  the  hazard  of  his  life,  against  Charles  XI.  The  King 
of  Sweden  had  caused  some  large  boats  to  be  built  on  a  new 
plan,  the  sides  of  which  were  much  higher  than  ordinary, 
and  could  be  raised  or  let  down  like  a  draw-bridge.  When 
raised,  they  covered  the  troops  on  board ;  and  when  let 
down  they  served  as  bridges  to  land  them.  He  made  use 
also  of  another  artifice.  Having  remarked  that  the  wind 
blew  from  the  north,  where  he  lay,  to  the  south,  where  the 
enemy's  camps  were,  he  ordered  that  they  should  set  fire  to 
a  quantity  of  wet  straw ;  from  which  a  thick  smoke  arising, 
it  spread  itself  over  the  river,  preventing  the  Saxons  from 
seeing  his  troops,  or  observing  what  he  was  about.  Under 
the  cover  of  this  cloud,  he  ordered  several  barks  to  put  off, 
full  of  wet  fuel ;  so  that  the  cloud  always  increasing,  and 
driven  by  the  wind  into  the  eyes  of  the  enemy,  made  it  im- 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


57 


possible  for  them  to  know  whether  the  king  was  passing  the 
river  or  not.  Meanwhile  he  alone  conducted  the  execution 
of  his  stratagem.  Having  got  over  the  greater  part  of  the 
river,  "  Well,"  says  he  to  General  Renschild,  u  the  Duna 
will  be  as  favourable  to  us  as  the  sea  of  Copenhagen  ;  be- 
lieve me,  general,  we  shall  beat  them."  He  arrived  in  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  at  the  other  side ;  and  was  mortified  that 
he  was  the  fourth  person  that  leaped  on  shore.  He  imme- 
diately landed  his  cannon,  and  formed  a  line  of  battle,  while 
the  enemy,  blinded  with  smoke,  could  not  oppose  him,  ex- 
cept by  a  few  random  shot.  The  wind  having  dispersed  the 
smoke,  the  Saxons  saw  the  king  of  Sweden  already  advanc- 
ing towards  them. 

Mareschal  Stenau  lost  not  a  moment :  scarce  had  he  per- 
ceived the  Swedes,  when  he  fell  on  them  with  the  best  part 
of  his  cavalry.  The  violent  shock  of  this  body  falling  upon 
the  Swedes  at  the  instant  they  were  forming  their  battalions, 
threw  them  into  disorder.  They  gave  way,  were  broken, 
and  pursued  even  into  the  river.  The  king  of  Sweden  ral- 
lied them  in  a  moment,  in  the  middle  of  the  water,  as  easily 
as  if  he  had  been  exercising  at  a  review ;  after  which  his 
soldiers  marched  more  compact  than  before,  repulsed  Ma- 
reschal Stenau,  and  advanced'  into  the  plain.  Stenau  finding 
that  his  troops  were  astonished,  like  an  able  general,  made 
them  retire  into  a  dry  place,  flanked  with  a  morass  and 
a  wood,  where  his  artillery  lay.  The  advantage  of  the 
ground,  and  the  time  thus  given  to  the  Saxons  to  recover 
their  first  surprize,  restored  to  them  their  former  courage. 
Charles  did  not  hesitate  to  attack  them;  he  had  fifteen  thou- 
sand men  with  him ;  Stenau  and  the  duke  of  Courland  about 
twelve  thousand,  with  no  other  artillery  than  one  dismounted 
iron  cannon.  The  battle  was  obstinate  and  bloody;  the 
duke  had  two  horses  killed  under  him ;  he  penetrated  three 
times  into  the  centre  of  the  king's  guard :  but  at  last,  having 
been  knocked  off  his  horse  by  a  blow  with  the  butt-end  of 
a  musket,  disorder  prevailed  throughout  his  army,  which  no 
longer  disputed  the  victory.    His  cuirassiers  carried  him  off 


58 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


with  great  difficulty,  bruised  and  half  dead,  from  the  thickest 
of  the  fight,  and  from  under  the  horses  heels,  which  tram- 
pled on  him. 

The  king  of  Sweden,  after  his  victory,  flew  to  Mittau,  the 
capital  of  Courland.  All  the  towns  of  this  duchy  surrendered 
to  him  at  discretion,  so  that  it  was  a  journey  rather  than  a 
conquest.  He  passed  without  delay  into  Lithuania,  con- 
quering as  he  went  along.  He  felt  a  flattering  satisfaction, 
and  he  confessed  it,  when  he  entered  as  conqueror  the  town 
of  Birzen,  where  the  king  of  Poland  and  the  czar  had  con- 
spired against  him  some  months  before. 

It  was  in  this  place  that  he  first  conceived  the  design  ol 
dethroning  the  king  of  Poland,  by  the  hands  of  the  Poles 
themselves.  Being  one  day  at  table,  his  mind  entirely  taken 
up  with  this  enterprise,  and  observing  his  usual  temperance 
of  diet,  he  was  wrapped  in  profound  silence,  and  seemed  ab- 
sorbed in  the  greatness  of  his  conceptions,  when  a  German 
colonel,  who  was  present  at  dinner,  observed,  loud  enough 
to  be  heard,  that  the  repast  which  the  czar  and  the  king  of 
Poland  had  made  in  the  same  place,  was  somewhat  different 
from  that  of  his  majesty.  "  Yes,"  said  the  king,  rising,  "  and 
I  shall  the  more  easily  spoil  their  digestion."  In  short,  in- 
termixing a  little  policy  with  the  force  of  his  arms,  he  did 
not  delay  to  prepare  the  event  which  he  had  meditated. 

Poland,  a  part  of  the-  ancient  Sarmatia,  is  a  little  larger 
than  France,  but  less  populous,  though  it  is  more  so  than 
Sweden.  Its  inhabitants  were  converted  to  Christianity  only 
about  seven  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  It  is  very  singular 
that  the  language  of  the  Romans,  who  never  penetrated  into 
this  country,  is  at  this  time  spoken  no  where  in  common  but 
in  Poland ;  there  every  body  speaks  Latin,  even  among  the 
very  servants.  This  extensive  country  is  very  fertile :  and 
the  people  are  consequently  less  industrious.  The  artists 
and  traders  you  meet  with  in  Poland  are  Scots,  French,  and 
Jews,  who  buy,  at  a  low  price,  corn,  cattle,  and  the  different 
commodities  of  the  country ;  these  they  dispose  of  at  Dantzic 
and  in  Germany,  and  sell  to  the  nobles  at  a  high  price,  to 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


59 


gratify  the  only  species  of  luxury  which  they  know  and  love. 
Thus  this  country,  watered  with  the  most  beautiful  rivers,  rich 
in  pastures,  in  salt  mines,  and  covered  with  luxuriant  crops, 
remains  poor  in  spite  of  its  plenty,  because  the  people  are 
slaves,  and  the  nobility  are  proud  and  indolent. 

Its  government  is  the  most  perfect  model  of  the  ancient 
government  of  the  Goths  and  Ce^ae,  which  has  been  correct- 
ed or  altered  every  where  else.  It  is  the  only  state  that  has 
preserved  the  name  of  a  republic  with  the  royal  dignity. 

Every  gentleman,  has  a  right  to  give  his  vote  in  the  elec- 
tion of  a  king ;  and  may  even  be  elected  himself.  This  most 
estimable  right  is  attended  with  the  greatest  abuses ;  the 
throne  is  almost  always  put  up  to  auction ;  and  as  a  Pole  is 
seldom  rich  enough  to  buy  it,  it  has  been  often  sold  to  stran- 
gers. The  nobility  and  clergy  defend  their  rights  against 
the  king,  and  deprive  the  rest  of  the  nation  of  theirs.  All 
the  people  are  slaves;  such  is  the  destiny  of  men,  that  the 
greater  number  are  every  where,  by  some  means  or  other, 
subjected  to  the  less.  There  the  peasant  sows  not  for  him- 
self, but  for  his  lord ;  to  whom  himself,  his  lands,  and  the 
labour  of  his  hands,  belong,  and  who  can  sell  him,  cr  cut  his 
throat,  as  he  would  the  beast  in  his  field.  All  who  are  gen- 
tlemen are  independent.  There  must  be  an  assembly  of  the 
whole  nation  to  try  him  in  a  criminal  cause ;  and  as  he  can- 
not be  seized  till  he  is  condemned,  he  is  hardly  ever  punish- 
ed. There  is  a  great  number  of  poor;  these  engage  in  the 
services  of  the  most  powerful,  receive  a  salary,  and  do  the 
meanest  offices  for  it.  They  like  better  to  serve  even  their 
equals  than  to  enrich  themselves  by  commerce,  and  as  they 
dress  their  master's  horses,  give  themselves  the  title  of  elec- 
tors of  kings,  and  destroyers  of  tyrants. 

Whoever  sees  the  king  of  Poland  in  the  pomp  of  royal 
majesty,  would  believe  him  the  most  absolute  prince  in  Eu- 
rope ;  he  is,  however,  the  least  so.  The  Poles  really  make 
that  contract  with  him,  which  in  other  nations  is  mere  sup- 
position between  the  king  and  his  subject.  The  king  of  Po- 
land even  at  his  consecration,  and  in  swearing  to  the  pacta 


60 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


conventa,  absolves  his  subjects  from  the  oath  of  obedience,  in 
case  he  violates  the  laws  of  the  republic. 

He  fills  up  all  offices,  and  confers  all  honours.  Nothing 
is  hereditary  in  Poland  but  the  land,  and  the  rank  of  the  no- 
bility. The  son  of  a  palatine,  or  of  the  king,  has  no  right 
to  the  dignities  of  his  father ;  but  there  is  this  great  differ- 
ence between  the  king  and  the  republic,  that  the  former  can 
take  away  no  office  after  he  has  given  it ;  while  the  repub- 
lic may  take  away  the  crown  from  him,  if  he  transgresses  the 
laws  of  the  state. 

The  nobility,  jealous  of  their  liberty,  often  sell  their  votes, 
but  seldom  their  affections.  Scarcely  have  they  elected  a 
king,  but,  fearing  his  ambition,  they  oppose  him  by  their  ca- 
bals. The  grandees  whom  he  has  made,  and  whom  he  can- 
not unmake,  often  become  his  enemies,  instead  of  remain- 
ing his  creatures.  Those  who  are  attached  to  the  court,  are 
objects  of  hatred  to  the  rest  of  the  nobility;  this  always  forms 
two  parties;  an  unavoidable  division,  and  even  necessary  in 
those  countries  where  they  will  choose,  at  the  same  time,  to 
have  kings,  and  to  preserve  their  liberties. 

Whatever  concerns  the  nation,  is  regulated  in  the  states 
general,  which  they  call  diets.  These  states  are  composed 
of  the  body  of  the  senate,  and  of  several  gentlemen.  The 
senators  are  the  palatines  and  the  bishops ;  the  second  or- 
der is  composed  of  the  deputies  of  the  particular  diets  of  each 
palatinate.  At  these  great  assemblies,  the  archbishop  of 
Gnesna,  primate  of  Poland,  and  viceroy  of  the  kingdom  dur- 
ing the  interregnum,  presides,  and  is  the  first  man  of  the 
state,  next  to  the  king.  There  is  seldom  any  other  cardinal 
in  Poland  but  him;  because  the  Roman  purple  giving  no 
precedence  in  the  senate,  a  bishop  who  shall  be  a  cardinal 
will  be  obliged  either  to  take  his  rank  as  senator,  or  re- 
nounce the  solid  rights  of  the  dignity  of  his  own  country,  to 
support  the  pretensions  of  a  foreign  honour. 

These  diets,  by  the  lawrs  of  the  kingdom,  ought  to  be  held 
alternately  in  Poland  and  Livonia.  The  deputies  often  de- 
cide their  business  sword  in  hand,  in  the  same  manner  as  the 


KING  OF  SAVED  EN. 


61 


ancient  Sarmatians,  from  whom  they  are  descended,  and 
sometimes  even  in  liquor,  a  vice  of  which  the  Sarmatians 
were  ignorant.  Every  gentleman  deputed  to  the  states  ge- 
neral enjoys  the  same  right  which  the  tribune  of  the  people 
at  Rome  had,  of  opposing  the  laws  of  the  senate.  Any  one 
gentleman  who  says,  "  I  protest,"  stops  by  that  single  word 
the  unanimous  resolutions  of  all  the  rest;  and  if  he  leaves 
the  place  where  the  diet  is  held,  the  assembly  is  dissolved. 

They  apply  to  the  disorders  which  arise  from  this  law,  a 
remedy  more  dangerous  than  the  disease.  Poland  is  seldom 
without  two  factions  ;  unanimity  in  their  diets,  therefore,  be- 
ing impossible,  each  party  forms  confederacies,  in  which 
they  decide  by  the  plurality  of  voices,  without  paying  any 
regard  to  the  protests  of  the  minority.  These  assemblies, 
not  warranted  by  law,  but  authorized  by  custom,  are  held  in 
the  name  of  the  king,  though  often  without  his  consent,  and 
against  his  interest;  something  in  the  manner  in  which  the 
league  in  France  made  use  of  the  name  of  Henry  III.  to 
ruin  him  ;  and  as  the  parliament  of  England,  which  brought 
Charles  I.  to  the  block,  began  by  placing  that  prince's  name 
to  all  the  resolutions  which  they  took  to  destroy  him.  When 
the  commotions  are  finished,  it  is  the  part  of  the  general 
diets  to  confirm  or  quash  the  acts  of  these  confederacies. 
A  diet  can  alter  every  thing  that  has  been  done  at  pre- 
ceding ones ;  for  the  same  reason  that  in  monarchical  coun- 
tries a  king  can  abolish  the  laws  of  his  predecessor,  and  even 
his  own. 

The  nobility,  who  make  the  laws  of  the  republic,  consti- 
tute its  strength  also.  They  appear  on  horseback  upon  any- 
great  occasion,  and  are  able  to  form  a  body  of  above  a  hun- 
dred thousand  men.  This  great  army,  called  the  pospolite, 
moves  with  difficulty,  and  is  ill-governed :  the  difficulty  of 
obtaining  provision  and  forage,  makes  it  impossible  for  it  to 
continue  long  assembled  :  it  has  neither  discipline,  subor- 
dination, nor  experience ;  but  the  love  of  liberty  which  ani- 
mates it  renders  it  always  formidable. 

These  nobles  may  be  conquered,  or  dispersed,  or  even 
6 


62  HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 

held  in  slavery  for  a  time,  but  they  soon  shake  off  the  yoke ; 

indeed  they  compare  themselves  to  the  reed,  which  the  wind 
bends  to  the  ground,  but  which  rises  again  as  soon  as  the 
wind  ceases  to  blow.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  they  have  no 
places  of  strength :  they  will  have  themselves  to  be  the 
only  bulwark  of  the  republic  ;  nor  will  they  sulfer  their  king 
to  build  any  forts,  foi  fear  he  should  make  use  of  them  more 
to  oppress  than  to  defend  them.  Their  country  is  of  course 
entirely  open,  except  two  or  three  frontier  towns.  If  in  a 
war  either  civil  or  foreign,  they  resolve  to  sustain  a  siege, 
they  are  obliged  to  raise  fortifications  of  earth,  repair  the  old 
walls  that  are  half  ruined,  and  enlarge  their  ditches  that  are 
almost  filled  up,  so  that  the  town  is  generally  taken  before 
the  intrenchments  are  completed. 

The  pospolite  are  not  always  on  horseback  to  defend  the 
country ;  they  never  mount  but  by  the  order  of  the  diets, 
though  sometimes,  in  extreme  dangers,  by  the  simple  order 
of  the  king. 

The  ordinary  guard  of  Poland,  is  an  army  which  ought 
always  to  be  maintained  at  the  expense  of  the  republic.  It 
is  composed  of  two  corps,  under  the  command  of  two  dif- 
ferent commanders  in  chief.  The  first  corps  is  that  of  Po- 
land, and  ought  to  consist  of  thirty-six  thousand  men  :  the 
second,  to  the  number  of  twelve  thousand,  is  that  of  Lithu- 
ania. The  two  generals  are  independent  the  one  of  the 
other;  and  though  they  are  nominated  by  the  king,  they  are 
accountable  to  nobody  for  their  actions  but  the  republic,  and 
have  an  unlimited  authority  over  their  troops.  The  colonels 
are  absolute  masters  of  their  regiments ;  and  it  belongs  to 
them  to  maintain  and  pay  the  soldiers  as  they  are  able ;  but 
being  seldom  paid  themselves,  they  ravage  the  country,  and 
ruin  the  peasants,  to  satisfy  their  own  avidity,  and  that  of 
their  soldiers.  The  Polish  lords  appear  in  these  armies  with 
more  magnificence  than  they  do  in  the  towns;  and  their 
tents  are  more  ornamented  than  their  houses.  The  cavalry, 
which  makes  up  two  thirds  of  the  army,  is  composed  of  gen- 
tlemen, and  is  remarkable  for  the  beauty  of  their  horses, 
and  tfte  richness  of  their  harness  and  accoutrements. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN.  65 

The  gendarmes  in  particular,  whom  they  distinguish  into 
hussars  and  pancernes,  nev  er  march  without  being  accom- 
panied by  several  valets,  who  hold  their  horses,  which  are 
adorned  with  plates  and  nails  of  silver,  embroidered  saddles, 
saddle-bows,  and  gilt  stirrups,  and  sometimes  of  massy  silver, 
together  with  large  housings,  trailing  after  the  manner  of  the 
Turks,  the  magnificence  of  whom  the  Poles  imitate  as  much 
as  possible. 

In  the  same  degree  that  the  cavalry  is  fine  and  superb,  the 
infantry  was  then  proportion  ably  wretched,  ill  clothed,  un- 
armed, without  regimentals,  or  any  thing  uniform.  It  was 
so,  at  least,  till  about  the  year  1710.  These  infantry,  who 
resemble  wandering  Tartars,  supported  with  an  astonishing 
fortitude,  hunger,  cold,  fatigue,  and  all  the  hardships  of  war. 

One  may  see  in  the  Polish  soldiers  the  character  of  the 
ancient  Sarmatians,  their  ancestors,  the  same  want  of  disci- 
pline, the  same  fury  to  attack,  the  same  readiness  to  fly  from 
and  to  return  to  the  attack,  and  likewise  the  same  disposi- 
tion to  slaughter  when  they  are  conquerors.  ■ 

The  king  of  Poland  flattered  himself  at  first,  that  in  case 
of  necessity,  these  two  armies  would  right  in  his  favour ;  that 
the  Polish  pospolite  would  arm  themselves  at  his  orders ; 
and  that  all  these  forces,  joined  to  the  Saxons,  his  subjects, 
and  to  the  Muscovites,  his  allies,  would  form  a  multitude 
before  which  the  small  number  of  the  Swedes  would  not 
dare  to  appear.  But  he  saw  himself  almost  at  once  deprived 
of  these  succours,  by  means  of  that  very  eagerness  which 
he  had  shown  to  have  them  all  at  once. 

Accustomed  in  his  hereditary  dominions  to  absolute  power, 
he  imagined,  too  fondly,  that  he  might  govern  in  Poland  as 
he  did  in  Saxony.  The  beginning  of  his  reign  made  mal- 
contents ;  and  his  first  proceedings  irritated  the  party  who 
had  opposed  his  election,  and  alienated  almost  all  the  rest. 
The  Poles  murmured  to  see  their  towns  filled  with  Saxon 
garrisons,  and  their  frontiers  lined  with  troops.  This  nation, 
much  more  jealous  of  maintaining  its  liberty  than  anxious  to 
attack  its  neighbours,  did  not  regard  the  war  of  King  Augus- 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


tus  against  the  Swedes,  and  the  irruption  into  Livonia,  as  an 
enterprise  advantageous  to  the  republic.  It  is  difficult  to  de- 
ceive a  free  people  respecting  its  true  interest.  The  Poles 
knew,  that  if  this  war,  undertaken  without  their  consent, 
should  prove  unsuccessful,  their  country,  open  on  every  side, 
would  become  a  prey  to  the  king  of  Sweden  ;  and  that,  if  it 
was  successful,  they  would  be  enslaved  by  their  own  king, 
who,  being  then  master  of  Livonia  and  Saxony,  would  shut 
up  Poland  between  these  two  states.  In  this  alternative, 
either  to  be  slaves  of  the  king  whom  they  had  elected,  or  to 
be  ravaged  by  Charles  XII.,  who  was  justly  incensed,  they 
raised  but  one  cry  against  the  war,  which  they  believed  to 
have  been  declared  more  against  themselves  than  Sweden. 
They  regarded  the  Saxons  and  the  Muscovites  as  the  for- 
gers of  their  chains ;  and  seeing,  soon  after,  that  the  king  of 
Sweden  had  overcome  every  thing  which  opposed  his  pas- 
sage, and  was  advancing  with  a  victorious  army  into  the  very 
heart  of  Lithuania,  they  exclaimed  against  their  sovereign 
with  so  much  the  more  freedom,  as  he  was  unfortunate. 

Two  parties  at  this  time  divided  Lithuania ;  that  of  the 
princess  Sapieha,  and  that  of  Oginsky.  These  two  factions 
began  from  private  quarrels,  and,  at  last,  terminated  in  a  civil 
war.  The  king  of  Sweden  attached  himself  to  the  piincess 
Sapieha;  and  Oginsky,  ill  supported  by  the  Saxons,  found 
his  party  almost  annihilated.  The  Lithuanian  army,  whom 
these  troubles,  and  the  want  of  money,  had  reduced  to  a  small 
number,  was  partly  dispersed  by  the  conquerors.  The  few 
who  held  out  for  the  king  of  Poland,  were  separated  into 
small  bodies  of  fugitive  troops,  who  wandered  about  the 
country,  and  subsisted  by  rapine.  Augustus  saw  nothing  in 
Lithuania  but  the  weakness  of  his  own  party,  the  hatred  of 
his  subjects,  and  an  hostile  army  conducted  by  a  young  king, 
enraged,  victorious,  and  implacable. 

There  was,  indeed,  an  army  in  Poland,  but  instead  of  its 
being  composed  of  thirty-six  thousand  men,  the  number  pre- 
scribed by  law,  there  were  not  even  eighteen  thousand,  not 
only  ill-paid,  and  ill-armed,  but  their  generals  knew  not  as 
yet  which  side  they  should  take. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


65 


The  only  resource  of  the  king  was,  to  order  his  nobility 
to  follow  him  :  but  he  was  afraid  of  exposing  himself  to  a 
refusal,  which  would  have  discovered  his  weakness,  and 
consequently  have  augmented  it. 

It  was  in  this  state  of  trouble  and  uncertainty  that  all  the 
palatinates  demanded  a  diet  of  the  king,  in  the  same  manner 
as  in  England,  when  all  the  bodies  of  the  state,  in  difficult 
times,  present  addresses  to  the  king,  beseeching  him  to  con- 
voke a  parliament.  Augustus  had  more  need  of  an  army 
than  a  diet,  in  which  the  actions  of  the  king,  are  strictly  scru- 
tinized. However,  it  was  necessary  that  he  should  assem- 
ble one,  lest  he  should  incense  the  nation  beyond  a  reconci- 
liation ;  it  was  accordingly  appointed  to  be  held  at  Warsaw, 
the  second  of  December,  in  the  year  1701.  He  soon  per- 
ceived, however,  that  Charles  had  at  least  as  much  power 
as  himself  in  this  assembly.  Those  who  favoured  the  Sa- 
piehas,  the  Lubomirsky,  and  their  friends,  the  Palatine  Lec- 
zinsky,  treasurer  of  the  crown,  (who  owed  his  fortune  to 
King  Augustus,)  and  especially  the  partizans  of  the  princes 
Sobiesky,  were  all  secretly  attached  to  the  king  of  Sweden. 

The  most  considerable  of  these  partizans,  and  the  most 
dangerous  enemy  that  the  king  of  Poland  had,  was  the  Car- 
dinal Radziejousky,  archbishop  of  Gnesna,  primate  of  the 
kingdom,  and  president  of  the  diet. 

He  was  a  man  full  of  artifice  and  mystery  in  his  conduct, 
entirely  governed  by  an  ambitious  woman,  whom  the  Swedes 
called  Madame  Cardinal,  and  who  never  ceased  engaging 
him  in  intrigue  and  faction.  The  talent  of  the  primate  con- 
sisted, as  we  are  told,  in  making  use  of  circumstances  with- 
out seeking  to  give  birth  to  them.  He  appeared  often  to  be 
irresolute,  for  who  is  not  so  in  a  civil  war  ?  King  John  So- 
biesky, the  predecessor  of  Augustus,  had  first  made  him 
bishop  of  Warrnia,  and  vice-chancellor  of  the  kingdom. 
Radziejousky,  being  yet  but  a  bishop,  had  obtained  the  car- 
dinalship  by  the  favour  of  the  same  king.  This  dignity- 
soon  opened  his  way  to  that  of  primate :  thus  uniting  in  his 

6* 


66 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


own  person  every  thing  to  impose  upon  mankind,  he  was  in 
a  state  to  undertake  any  thing  with  impunity. 

He  tried  his  credit,  after  the  death  of  John,  to  place  the 
Prince  James  Sobiesky  on  the  throne ;  but  the  torrent  of  ha- 
tred which  the  father  had  incurred,  though  a  truly  great  man, 
overwhelmed  his  son.  After  this,  the  cardinal  primate  joined 
to  the  Abbe  de  Polignac,  ambassador  of  France,  to  give  the 
crown  to  the  prince  of  Conti,  who  was  in  effect  elected. 
But  money  and  Saxon  troops  triumphed  over  his  negotia- 
tions. He  suffered  himself,  at  last,  to  be  drawn  over  to  the 
party  that  crowned  the  elector  of  Saxony,  and  waited  with 
patience  for  an  opportunity  of  making  a  division  between 
the  nation  and  this  new  king. 

The  victories  of  Charles  XII.,  protector  of  Prince  James 
Sobiesky,  the  civil  war  in  Lithuania,  and  the  general  aliena- 
tion of  men's  minds  from  King  Augustus,  made  the  cardinal 
primate  believe  that  the  time  was  arrived  when  he  might 
send  Augustus  into  Saxony,  and  open  King  John's  son  the 
way  to  the  throne.  This  prince,  formerly  the  innocent  ob- 
ject of  the  hatred  of  the  Poles,  had  begun  to  engage  their 
affections  from  the  time  of  their  hatred  to  King  Augustus ; 
but  he  durst  not  as  yet  conceive  an  i(Jea  of  so  great  a  revo- 
lution, of  which  the  cardinal  was  insensibly  laying  the  foun- 
dation. 

At  first  he  seemed  to  wish  to  reconcile  the  king  and  the 
republic  ;  he  sent  circular  letters,  dictated,  in  appearance,  by 
the  spirit  of  concord  and  charity ;  common  and  well  known 
snares,  but  with  which  men  are  always  caught.  He  wrote 
an  affecting  letter  to  the  king  of  Sweden,  conjuring  him,  in 
the  name  of  Him  whom  all  Christians  equally  adored,  to 
give  peace  to  Poland  and  her  king.  Charles  XII.  answered 
the  intentions  of  the  cardinal  rather  than  his  words.  In  the 
meantime,  he  remained  in  the  great  duchy  of  Lithuania  with 
his  victorious  army,  declaring  that  he  would  not  disturb  the 
diet;  that  he  made  war  against  Augustus  and  the  Saxons, 
and  not  against  the  Poles  ;  and  that  so  far  from  attacking  the 
republic,  he  came  to  relieve  it  from  oppression.    Those  let- 


KING  OF  SWEDEN.  67 

ters  and  these  answers  were  intended  for  the  public.  The 
emissaries  that  were  continually  going  and  coming  between 
the  cardinal  and  Count  Piper,  and  the  secret  assemblies  at 
the  prelate's  house,  were  the  springs  that  regulated  the  mo- 
tions of  the  diet;  they  proposed  to  send  an  ambassador  to 
Charles  XII.,  and  unanimously  demanded  of  the  king,  that 
he  would  call  no  more  Muscovites  to  his  frontiers,  and  that 
he  should  also  send  back  his  Saxon  troops. 

The  bad  fortune  of  Augustus  had  already  done  what  the 
diet  required  of  him.  The  league  secretly  concluded  at 
Birzen  with  the  Muscovites,  was  now  become  as  useless,  as 
it  had  at  first  appeared  formidable.  He  was  far  from  being 
able  to  send  to  the  czar  the  fifty  thousand  Germans  he 
had  promised  to  raise  in  the  empire.  Even  the  czar, 
a  dangerous  neighbour  of  Poland,  was  in  no  haste  to 
assist,  with  all  his  force,  a  divided  kingdom,  from  whose 
misfortunes  he  hoped  to  reap  some  advantage.  He  content- 
ed himself  with  sending  twenty  thousand  Muscovites  into 
Lithuania,  who  cid  more  mischief  than  the  Swedes,  flying 
every  where  before  the  conqueror,  and  ravaging  the  lands  of 
the  Poles,  till  at  last,  being  pursued  by  the  Swedish  gene- 
rals, and  finding  nothing  more  to  pillage,  they  returned  in 
bodies  to  .their  own  country.  With  regard  to  the  shattered 
remains  of  the  Saxon  armies  beaten  at  Riga,  Augustus  sent 
them  to  winter  and  recruit  in  Saxony,  to  the  end  that  this 
sacrifice,  involuntary  as  it  was,  might  regain  him  the  affec- 
tions of  the  irritated  Poles. 

The  war  was  now  turning  into  intrigues.  The  diet  was 
divided  iato  almost  as  many  factions  as  there  were  palatines. 
One  day  the  interests  of  King  Augustus  prevailed,  the  next 
they  were  proscribed.  Every  one  cried  out  for  liberty  and 
justice ;  but  no  one  knew  what  it  was  either  to  be  free  or 
just.  The  time  was  lost  by  caballing  in  private  and  haran- 
guing in  public.  The  diet  knew  neither  what  they  wanted,  nor 
what  they  ought  to  do.  Great  assemblies  have"  hardly  ever 
taken  right  counsel  in  civil  broils;  because  the  most  coura- 
geous amongst  them  are  engaged      the  sedition,  and  the 


68 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


well  disposed  are  generally  a  prey  to  their  fears.  The  diet 
dissolved  in  tumult  the  17th  of  February,  in  the  year 
1702,  after  three  months  of  cabals  and  irresolution.  The 
senators,  who  are  the  palatines  and  bishops,  remained  at 
Warsaw.  The  senate  of  Poland  has  a  right  to  make  laws 
provisionally,  which  the  diets  seldom  disannul.  This  body 
being  less  numerous,  and  accustomed  to  business,  was  far 
less  tumultuous,  and  decided  with  greater  despatch. 

They  decreed,  that  they  should  send  to  the  king  of  Swe- 
den the  embassy  proposed  in  the  diet :  that  the  prospolite 
should  mount  their  horses,  and  hold  themselves  in  readiness 
at  all  events ;  they  made  several  regulations  to  appease  the 
troubles  in  Lithuania,  and  still  more  to  lessen  the  authority 
of  the  king,  which  was  more  to  be  feared  than  that  of  Charles. 

Augustus  chose  rather  at  that  time  to  receive  hard  laws 
from  his  conqueror  than  from  his  subjects.  He  determined 
to  sue  for  a  peace  to  the  king  of  Sweden,  and  wanted  to 
make  a  secret  treaty  with  him.  It  was  necessary  to  conceal 
this  step  from  the  senate,  whom  he  regarded  as  an  enemy 
still  more  untractable  than  Charles.  This  was  a  delicate  af- 
fair; he  entrusted  it  to  the  countess  of  Konigsmark,  a  Swedish 
lady  of  high  birth,  and  to  whom  he  was  at  that  time  attach- 
ed. This  lady,  celebrated  in  the  world  for  her  wit  and  beau- 
ty, was  more  capable  than  any  minister  to  bring  a  negotia- 
tion to  a  happy  conclusion.  Moreover,  as  she  had  an  estate 
in  the  dominions  of  Charles  XII.,  and  had  lived  a  long  time 
in  his  court,  she  had  a  plausible  pretext  to  seek  this  prince. 
She  therefore  went  to  the  Swedish  camp  in  Lithuania,  and 
addressed  herself  directly  to  Count  Piper,  who,  too  hastily, 
promised  her  an  audience  with  his  master.  The  countess, 
among  those  perfections  which  rendered  her  one  of  the  most 
amiable  persons  in  Europe,  had  the  singular  talent  of  speak- 
ing the  languages  of  several  countries  which  she  had  never 
seen,  with  as  much  elegance  as  if  she  had  been  born  there; 
she  even  amused  herself,  sometimes,  in  writing  French  verses, 
which  might  have  been  mistaken  for  the  production  of  a 
person  born  at  Versailles.    Those  she  composed  for  Charles 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


69 


XII.,  history  ought  not  to  omit.  She  introduced  the  hear 
then  gods  praising  the  different  virtues  of  Charles.  The 
piece  concluded  thus : 

Enfin  ehacun  des  Dieux  discourant  a  sa  gloire, 
Le  plaeoit  par  avance  au  Temple  de  Memoire  ; 
Mais  Venus  ni  Bacchus  n'en  dirent  pas  un  mot. 

Nay,  all  the  gods  to  sound  his  fame  combine. 

Except  the  deities  of  love  and  wine. 

All  her  wit  and  beauty  were,  however,  thrown  away  upon 
a  man  like  the  king  of  Sweden,  who  constantly  refused  to 
see  her.  She  therefore  resolved  to  throw  herself  in  his  way 
as  he  rode  out  to  take  the  air,  which  he  frequently  did.  She 
one  day  met  him  in  a  narrow  path  :  she  descended  from  her 
carriage  as  soon  as  she  perceived  him ;  the  king  made  her  a 
low  bow,  turned  his  horse  about,  and  rode  back  in  an  instant ; 
so  that  the  only  advantage  which  the  countess  of  Konigsmark 
gained  from  her  journey,  was  the  satisfaction  of  believing 
that  the  king  of  Sweden  feared  nobody  but  her. 

The  king  of  Poland  was  now  obliged  to  throw  himself 
into  the  arms  of  the  senate.  He  therefore  made  them  two 
proposals,  by  the  palatine  of  Marienburgh;  the  one,  that  they 
should  leave  to  him  the  disposition  of  the  army  of  the  re- 
public, to  whom  he  would  pay,  out  of  his  own  revenue,  two 
quarters  advance ;  the  other,  that  they  should  permit  him  to 
bring  back  twelve  thousand  Saxons  into  Poland.  The  car- 
dinal primate  returned  him  an  answer,  as  severe  as  the  refu- 
sal of  the  king  of  Sweden.  He  told  the  palatine  of  Marien- 
burgh, in  the  name  of  the  assembly,  "that  they  had  resolved 
to  send  an  embassy  to  Charles  XII.,  and  that  he  would  not 
advise  him  to  bring  back  any  Saxons." 

The  king,  in  this  extremity,  wished  to  preserve  the  ap- 
pearance, at  least,  of  royal  authority.  He  sent  one  of  his 
chamberlains,  on  his  own  part,  to  wait  upon  Charles,  to 
know  from  him  where  and  how  his  Swedish  majesty  would 
be  pleased  to  receive  the  embassy  of  his  master  and  the  re- 
public. Unluckily  they  had  forgot  to  ask  a  passport  from 
the  Swedes  for  this  chamberlain  ;  the  king  of  Sweden,  there- 
fore, instead  of  giving  him  audience,  caused  him  to  be  thrown 


70 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


into  prison,  saying,  "  that  he  expected  an  embassy  from  the 
republic,  and  not  from  Augustus."  This  violation  of  the  right 
of  nations  no  law  but  that  of  a  superior  force  could  excuse. 

Afterwards  Charles,  having  left  behind  him  garrisons  in 
several  towns  in  Lithuania,  advanced  beyond  Grodno,  a  town 
well  known  in  Europe  for  the  diets  that  are  held  there,  but 
ill  built,  and  badly  fortified. 

A  few  miles  on  the  other  side  Grodno,  he  encountered  the 
embassy  of  the  republic  :  it  was  composed  of  five  senators. 
They  desired,  in  the  first  place,  to  regulate  the  ceremony  of 
their  introduction,  a  thing  that  the  king  was  unacquainted 
with  :  they  then  demanded  that  the  republic  should  be  styled 
"  most  serene,"  and  that  the  coaches  of  the  king  and  the 
senators  should  be  sent  to  meet  them.  They  were  answered, 
that  the  republic  should  be  styled  "  illustrious,"  and  not 
"  most  serene,"  and  that  the  king  never  made  use  of  car- 
riages ;  that  he  had  many  officers  about  him,  but  no  sena- 
tors ;  that  a  lieutenant-general  should  be  sent  to  meet  them, 
and  that  they  should  come  on  their  own  horses. 

Charles  XII.  received  them  in  his  tent,  with  some  appear- 
ance of  military  pomp  ;  their  discourse  was  full  of  caution 
and  reserve.  It  was  remarked,  that  they  were  afraid  of 
Charles,  that  they  did  not  love  Augustus,  but  that  they  were 
ashamed  to  take,  by  command  of  a  stranger,  the  crown  from 
a  king  whom  they  had  elected.  Nothing  was  concluded, 
and -Charles  gave  them  to  understand,  that  he  would  settle 
all  disputes  at  Warsaw. 

His  march  was  preceded  by  a  manifesto,  which  the  cardi- 
nal and  his  party  spread  over  Poland  in  eight  days.  Charles, 
by  this  writing,  invited  the  Poles  to  join  their  vengeance  to 
his,  and  pretended  to  show  them  that  his  interest  and  theirs 
were  the  same.  They  were,  however,  very  different :  but 
the  manifesto,  supported  by  a  great  party,  by  the  confusion 
of  the  senate,  and  the  approach  of  the  conqueror,  made  a 
very  strong  impression.  They  were  obliged  to  own  Charles 
for  protector,  because  he)would  be  so,  and  because  it  was 
happy  for  them  that  he  contented  himself  with  this  title. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


71 


The  senators  who  opposed  Augustus,  published  this  mani- 
festo aloud,  even  in  his  presence  ;  the  few  who  were  attach- 
ed to  him  observed  a  profound  silence.  At  last,  when  they 
were  apprised  that  Charles  was  advancing  by  long  marches, 
they  all  prepared  in  the  greatest  confusion  to  depart.  The 
cardinal  quitted  Warsaw  among  the  first;  the  greatest  part 
fled  with  precipitation ;  some  retired  to  their  estates  to  wait 
the  end  of  this  affair,  while  others  went  to  arm  their  friends. 
Nobody  returned  with  the  king,  except  the  ambassadors  of 
the  emperor  and  of  the  czar,  the  pope's  nuncio,  together  with 
a  few  bishops  and  palatines  attached  to  his  fortunes.  He 
was  obliged  to  fly,  as  there  was  nothing  as  yet  decided  in 
his  favour.  He  hastened  before  his  departure,  to  hold  a 
council  with  the  small  number  of  senators  who  still  repre- 
sented the  senate.  But  however  zealous  they  were  to  serve 
him,  they  were  nevertheless  Poles,  and  had  all  conceived 
so  great  an  aversion  to  Saxon  troops,  that  they  did  not  dare 
to  grant  him  the  liberty  of  recalling  more  than  six  thousand 
men  for  his  defence,  and  even  voted  that  those  should  be 
commanded  by  the  grand  general  of  Poland,  and  sent  back 
as  soon  as  they  had  made  peace.  The  armies  of  the  re- 
public, indeed,  they  committed  to  his  care. 

After  this  resolution,  the  king  quitted  Warsaw,  too  weak 
to  resist  his  enemies,  and  little  satisfied  even  with  his  own 
party.  He  immediately  published  orders  for  assembling  the 
pospolite  and  the  armies,  which  were  little  more  than  empty 
names.  He  had  nothing  to  hope  for  in  Lithuania,  where  the 
Swedes  then  were.  The  army  of  Poland,  reduced  to  a  few 
troops,  wanted  arms,  provisions,  and  inclination  to  fight 
The  greatest  part  of  the  nobility,  intimidated,  irresolute,  and 
disaffected,  remained  at  their  different  estates.  In  vain  did  the 
king,  authorized  by  the  laws  of  the  land,  order,  on  pain  of 
death,  that  every  gentleman  should  mount  his  horse  and  fol- 
low him ;  it  was  become  a  problematical  point  whether  they 
ought  to  obey  him  or  not.  His  great  resource  was  in  the 
troops  of  the  electorate,  where  the  form  of  government  be- 
ing entirely  absolute,  did  not  leave  him  a  doubt  of  theii 


72 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


obedience.  He  had  already  secretly  commanded  twelve 
thousand  Saxons  to  advance  with  precipitation.  He  like- 
wise recalled  the  eight  thousand  men  he  had  promised  the 
emperor  in  his  war  against  France,  and  whom  the  necessity 
into  which  he  was  reduced  obliged  him  to  withdraw.  To 
introduce  so  many  Saxons  into  Poland,  was  to  exasperate  all 
minds,  and  violate  the  law  made  by  his  own  party,  who  al- 
lowed him  only  six  thousand ;  but  he  knew  very  well,  that 
if  he  was  conqueror  they  would  not  dare  to  complain,  and  if 
he  was  conquered  they  would  not  forgive  his  having  intro- 
duced even  the  six  thousand.  At  the  time  these  soldiers 
were  arriving  in  troops,  and  he  was  going  from  one  palatinate 
to  another,  to  assemble  the  nobility  who  were  attached  to 
him,  the  king  of  Sweden  appeared  before  Warsaw  on  the 
fifth  of  May,  1702.  At  the  first  summons,  the  gates  were 
opened  to  him.  He  dismissed  the  Polish  garrison,  disband- 
ed the  city  guard,  established  posts  in  every  part  of  the  town, 
and  ordered  the  inhabitants  to  come  and  deliver  to  him  their 
arms  ;  but,  content  with  disarming  them,  and  being  unwill- 
ing to  irritate  them,  he  demanded  a  contribution  of  no  more 
than  one  hundred  thousand  livres. 

Augustus  was  at  this  time  assembling  his  forces  at  Cracow, 
and  was  very  much  surprised  to  see  the  cardinal  arrive  there. 
This  man  pretended  to  keep  up  the  decency  of  his  charac- 
ter to  the  very  last,  and  endeavoured  to  dethrone  the  king 
with  the  exterior  behaviour  of  a  good  subject;  he  gave  him 
to  understand  that  the  king  of  Sweden  appeared  disposed  to 
listen  to  a  reasonable  accommodation,  and  humbly  asked  per- 
mission to  seek  him.  The  king  granted  him  what  he  was 
not  able  to  refuse,  that  is  to  say,  the  liberty  of  doing  him 
mischief. 

The  cardinal  primate  hastened  immediately  to  find  the 
king  of  Sweden,  before  whom  he  had  not  as  yet  dared  pre- 
sent himself.  He  saw  this  prince  at  Pragg,  near  Warsaw, 
but  without  the  ceremonies  with  which  he  had  received  the 
ambassadors  of  the  republic.  He  found  this  conqueror 
dressed  in  a  coat  of  coarse  blue  cloth  with  gilt  brass  buttons, 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


73 


large  boots,  and  buff  skin  gloves  which  came  up  to  hi*  el- 
bows, in  a  chamber  without  tapestry,  in  which  were  his 
brother-in-law  the  duke  of  Holstein,  Count  Piper,  his  first 
minister,  and  several  general  officers.  The  king  advanced 
several  paces  to  meet  the  cardinal ;  and  they  had  a  confe- 
rence together,  standing,  of  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  which 
Charles  finished  by  saying  aloud,  "  I  will  not  give  peace  to 
the  Poles  till  they  have  elected  another  king."  The  cardi- 
nal, who  expected  such  a  declaration,  caused  it  to  be  imme- 
diately known  to  all  the  palatinates,  assuring  them  of  the 
extreme  sorrow  he  felt  at  it,  and  representing,  at  the  same 
time,  the  necessity  there  was  to  obey  the  conqueror. 

At  this  news,  the  king  of  Poland  plainly  perceived  that  he 
must  either  lose  the  thione,  or  preserve  it  by  a  battle.  He 
exhausted  all  his  resources  for  this  great  decision.  All  his 
Saxon  troops  were  arrived  from  the  Saxon  frontiers,  and  the 
nobility  of  the  palatinate  of  Cracow,  where  he  still  was, 
came  in  crowds  to  offer  him  their  services.  He  exhorted 
each  of  these  gentlemen  to  remember  their  oaths,  and  they 
promised  to  shed  the  last  drop  of  their  blood  to  support  him. 
Encouraged  by  their  support,  and  by  the  troops  who  bore 
the  name  of  the  army  of  the  crown,  he  went  for  the  first 
time  to  seek,  in  person,  the  king  of  Sweden,  whom  he  pre- 
sently found  advancing  towards  Cracow. 

The  two  kings  met  on  the  13th  of  July,  in  the  year  1702, 
in  a  vast  plain  near  Clissau,  between  Warsaw  and  Cracow. 
Augustus  had  near  twenty-four  thousand  men,  while  Charles 
had  no  more  than  twelve  thousand. 

The  battle  began  by  discharges  of  artillery.  At  the  first 
volley  from  the  Saxons,  the  duke  of  Holstein,  who  commanded 
the  Swedish  cavalry,  a  young  prince  of  courage  and  virtue, 
received  a  cannon-ball  in  his  reins.  The  king  asked  if  he 
was  killed,  and  was  told  yes  :  he  made  no  answer  :  some 
tears  fell  from  his  eyes ;  and  he  held  his  hand  up  to  his  face 
for  a  moment;  when  all  of  a  sudden,  he  spurred  his  horse 
with  all  his  might,  and  rushed  into  the  midst  of  the  enemy 
at  the  head  of  his  guards. 

D  7 


74 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


The  king  of  Poland  did  every  thing  that  could  be  expected 
from  a  prince  who  fought  for  his  crown.  He  led  his  troops 
himself  three  times  to  the  charge ;  but  he  had  only  the  Sax- 
ons to  fight  with  him ;  for  the  Poles,  who  formed  his  right 
wing,  ali  fled  at  the  commencement  of  the  battle,  some 
through  fear,  and  others  through  disaffection.  The  good 
fortune  of  Charles  carried  all  before  it ;  and  gained  him  a 
complete  victory.  He  took  possession  of  the  enemy's  camp, 
their  colours  and  artillery,  and  of  Augustus's  military  chest. 
He  did  not  stop  in  the  field  of  battle,  but  marched  directly 
to  Cracow,  pursuing  the  king  of  Poland,  who  fled  before  him. 

The  citizens  of  Cracow  were  hardy  enough  to  shut  their 
gates  against  the  conqueror.  He  caused  them  to  be  broken 
open,  and  the  garrison  did  not  dare  to  fire  a  single  gun,  but 
were  driven  with  whips  and  canes  into  the  castle,  where  the 
king  entered  with  them.  One  officer  of  artillery  only  having 
courage  to  prepare  himself  to  put  the  match  to  a  cannon, 
Charles  threw  himself  upon  him,  and  tore  it  out  of  his  hand. 
The  commander  threw  himself  on  his  knees  before  the  king. 
Three  Swedish  regiments  were  quartered  at  discretion 
among  the  citizens,  and  the  town  taxed  with  a  contribution 
of  a  hundred  thousand  rix  dollars.  The  Count  de  Steinbock, 
who  was  made  governor  of  the  town,  having  been  told  that 
there  were  some  treasures  hid  in  the  tombs  of  the  kings  of 
Poland,  which  are  in  the  church  of  St.  Nicholas  at  Cracow, 
had  them  opened,  but  found  nothing,  except  some  ornaments 
of  gold  and  silver,  which  belonged  to  the  church,  of  which, 
however,  he  took  a  part ;  and  Charles  even  sent  a  gold  cup 
to  one  of  the  Swedish  churches,  which  would  have  raised 
the  Polish  catholics  against  him,  could  any  thing  have  pre- 
vailed against  the  terror  of  his  arms. 

He  departed  from  Cracow  with  a  fixed  resolution  to  pur- 
sue the  king  of  Poland  without  ceasing  :  but  a  few  miles 
from  the  town  his  horse  fell,  and  he  broke  his  thigh  bone. 
He  was  obliged  to  be  carried  back  to  Cracow,  where  he  was 
confined  to  his  bed  for  six  weeks,  in  the  hands  of  his  sur- 
geons.   This  accident  gave  Augustus  a  little  respite.  He 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


75 


immediately  caused  it  to  be  reported  throughout  Poland  and 
Germany,  that  Charles  XII.  was  killed  by  this  fall.  This 
false  report,  believed  for  some  time,  threw  every  mind  into 
astonishment  and  apprehension.  In  this  short  interval,  he 
assembled  at  Marienburgh,  and  then  at  Lublin,  all  the  orders 
of  the  kingdom,  before  convoked  at  Sendomir.  This  as- 
sembly was  very  numerous,  few  of  the  palatinates  refusing 
to  send  their  deputies  thither.  He  regained  almost  every 
heart  by  presents  and  promises,  and  that  affability  so  neces- 
sary to  absolute  kings  to  make  themselves  beloved,  and  to 
elected  kings  to  enable  them  to  maintain  their  thrones. 
The  diet  was  soon  undeceived  with  regard  to  the  false  report 
of  the  death  of  the  king  of  Sweden  ;  but  motion  having  been 
given  to  this  great  body,  it  suffered  itself  to  be  carried  along 
by  the  impulse  it  had  received,  all  the  members  swearing  to 
continue  faithful  to  their  sovereign ;  so  much  are  great  as- 
semblies given  to  change.  The  cardinal  primate  himself, 
affecting  still  to  be  attached  to  Augustus,  came  to  the  diet  of 
Lublin,  where  he  kised  the  king's  hand,  and  did  not  refuse 
to  take  the  oath  with  the  rest.  The  oath  was,  that  they  had 
never  attempted,  nor  ever  would  attempt,  any  thing  against 
Augustus.  The  king  excused  the  cardinal  from  the  first 
part  of  the  oath,  and  the  prelate  blushed  when  he  swore  to 
the  last.  The  result  of  this  diet  was,  that  the  republic  of 
Poland  should  maintain  an  army  of  fifty  thousand  men,  at 
their  own  expense,  for  the  use  of  their  sovereign ;  that  they 
should  give  six  weeks  to  the  Swedes  to  declare  either  for 
peace  or  war ;  and  the  same  time  to  the  princess  Sapieha, 
the  first  author  of  the  troubles  in  Lithuania,  to  come  and  ask 
pardon  of  the  king  of  Poland. 

But,  during  these  deliberations,  Charles  recovered  of  his 
wound,  and  overturned  every  tiling  before  him.  Always 
firm  in  the  design  of  forcing  the  Poles  to  dethrone  their  king 
with  their  own  hands,  he  caused  a  new  assembly  to  be  con- 
voked at  Warsaw,  through  the  intrigues  of  the  cardinal  pri- 
mate, to  oppose  that  of  Lublin.  His  generals  represented  to 
him,  that  this  affair  might  be  attended  with  endless  delays, 


70 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


and  prove  ineffectual  at  last ;  that,  in  the  mean  time,  the 
Muscovites  were  improving  in  military  science  every  day,  in 
presence  of  the  troops  he  had  left  in  Livonia  and  Ingria ; 
that  the  skirmishes  which  often  happened  in  those  provinces 
between  the  Swedes  and  the  Russians,  were  not  always  at- 
tended with  advantages  to  the  former ;  and  lastly,  that  his 
presence  there  might  very  soon  be  necessary.  Charles,  as 
unshaken  in  his  projects,  as  impatient  in  his  actions,  replied, 
a  Should  I  be  obliged  to  stay  here  fifty  years,  I  will  not  de- 
part till  I  have  dethroned  the  king  of  Poland." 

He  left  the  assembly  of  Warsaw  to  combat  by  their  ora- 
tions and  writings  that  of  Lublin,  and  to  seek  to  justify  their 
proceedings  by  the  laws  of  the  kingdom  ;  laws  always  equi- 
vocal, which  each  party  interprets  to  his  own  interest,  and 
which  success  alone  renders  incontestable.  As  for  himself, 
having  increased  his  victorious  troops  with  six  thousand 
horse  and  eight  thousand  foot,  which  he  had  received  from 
Sweden,  he  marched  against  the  remainder  of  the  Saxon 
army  which  he  had  beat  at  Clissau,  and  which  had  time  to 
rally  and  recruit,  while  his  fall  from  his  horse  had  confined 
him  to  his  bed.  This  army  shunned  his  approach,  and  re- 
tired towards  Prussia,  to  the  north  west  of  Warsaw.  The 
river  Bug  was  between  him  and  his  enemies.  Charles  swam 
across  it  at  the  head  of  his  cavalry,  whilst  the  infantry  sought 
a  ford  somewhat  higher.  They  came  up  with  the  Saxons 
the  first  of  May,  1703,  at  a  place  called  Pultesk.  General 
Stenau  commanded  them,  to  the  number  of  about  ten  thou- 
sand. The  king  of  Sweden,  in  his  precipitate  march,  had 
no  more  than  the  same  number,  certain  that  a  less  number 
would  suffice.  The  terror  of  his  arms  was  so  great,  that  one 
half  of  the  Saxon  troops  fled  at  his  approach,  without  giving 
him  battle.  General  Stenau  stood,  indeed,  for  a  moment, 
with  two  regiments  ;  but  presently  after  was  obliged  to  join 
in  the  general  flight  of  his  army,  which  was  dispersed  be- 
fore it  was  conquered.  The  Swedes  did  not  take  more  than 
a  thousand  prisoners,  nor  kill  more  than  six  hundred;  ha« 
ving  more  difficulty  to  pursue  than  to  defeat  them, 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


77 


Augustus  having  nothing  but  the  remains  of  his  Saxons, 
who  were  beaten  on  every  side,  retired  in  haste  to  Thorn, 
an  ancient  town  of  royal  Prussia,  situated  on  the  Vistula, 
and  under  the  protection  of  the  Poles.  Charles  immediately 
prepared  to  besiege  it ;  and  the  king  of  Poland,  who  did  not 
think  himself  secure,  retired,  and  flew  into  every  corner  of 
Poland  where  he  could  possibly  assemble  any  soldiers,  and 
into  which  the  Swedes  had  not  penetrated.  In  the  mean- 
time, Charles,  amidst  so  many  rapid  marches,  swimming 
across  rivers,  and  hurried  along  with  his  infantry  mounted 
behind  his  cavalry,  had  not  been  able  to  bring  up  his  cannon 
before  Thorn,  and  was  obliged  to  wait  till  it  came  from  Swe- 
den by  sea. 

While  he  was  posted  here,  a  few  miles  from  the  town,  he 
would  often  advance  too  nigh  the  ramparts,  for  the  purpose 
of  reconnoitering  the  enemy.  The  plain  dress  which  he  al- 
ways wore  was,  in  these  dangerous  excursions,  of  more  utility 
than  he  was  aware  of;  as  it  prevented  his  being  remarked 
and  singled  out  by  his  enemies,  who  would  have  fired  upon 
his  person.  One  day,  having  advanced  too  near,  with  one 
of  his  generals,*  named  Lieven,  who  was  dressed  in  a  blue 
coat,  trimmed  with  gold,  and  being  afraid  that  the  general 
would  be  too  easily  distinguished,  he  ordered  him  to  walk 
behind  him ;  prompted  to  it  by  that  magnanimity  which  was 
so  natural  to  him,  and  which  prevented  him  from  reflecting, 
that  he  exposed  his  own  life  to  imminent  danger  to  save  that 
of  his  subject.  Lieven  saw  too  late  the  error  of  putting  on 
a  remarkable  dress,  which  endangered  all  those  who  were 
near  him ;  and  fearing  equally  for  the  king  in  any  place 
whatever,  hesitated  whether  he  should  obey  :  in  the  midst 
of  this  contest,  the  king  took  him  by  the  arm,  and  placing 
himself  before  him,  entirely  screened  him  ;  but  at  this  in- 
stant a  volley  of  cannon,  which  came  in  flank,  struck  the 
general  dead  on  the  spot  which  the  king  had  scarcely  quit- 

*  In  the  first  editions  it  was  said  that  this  general  was  in  scarlet,  but 
the  chaplain  Norbeg  has  so  well  proved  that  his  uniform  was  blue,  that 
we  have  corrected  this  error. 

7* 


78 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


ted.  The  death  of  this  man,  killed  exactly  in  his  stead,  and 
because  he  had  endeavoured  to  save  him,  contributed  not  a 
little  to  confirm  him  in  the  opinion,  which  he  entertained 
throughout  his  life,  of  an  absolute  predestination ;  and  made 
him  believe  that  his  fate,  which  had  preserved  him  in  so  sin- 
gular a  manner,  had  reserved  him  for  the  execution  of  yet 
greater  things. 

Every  thing  succeeded  with  him  :  his  negotiations  and 
his  arms  were  equally  happy.  He  was  present,  as  it  were, 
in  every  part  of  Poland  ;  for  his  grand  Mareschal  Renschild 
was  in  the  heart  of  the  kingdom,  with  a  large  body  of  troops; 
about  thirty  thousand  Swedes,  under  different  generals, 
spread  to  the  north  and  east  over  the  frontiers  of  Muscovy, 
withstood  the  efforts  of  the  whole  Russian  empire ;  and 
Charles  himself  was  in  the  west,  at  the  other  end  of  Poland, 
at  the  head  of  his  choicest  troops. 

The  king  of  Denmark,  tied  up  by  the  treaty  of  Travendal, 
which  his  weakness  had  prevented  him  from  breaking,  re- 
mained silent.  This  monarch,  always  prudent,  did  not  dare 
to  discover  his  disgust  at  seeing  the  king  of  Sweden  so  near 
his  dominions.  At  a  greater  distance  towards  the  south-west 
lay  the  duchy  of  Bremen,  between  the  rivers  Elbe  and  We- 
ser,  the  most  remote  territory  of  the  ancient  Swedish  con- 
quests, filled  witli  strong  garrisons,  and  opening  to  the  con- 
queror a  free  passage  into  Saxony  and  the  empire.  Thus, 
from  the  German  ocean  almost  to  the  mouth  of  the  Boris- 
thenes,  comprehending  the  whole  breadth  of  Europe,  and 
even  to  the  gates  of  Moscow,  all  was  in  consternation,  and 
on  the  point  of  a  general  revolution.  His  ships,  masters  of 
the  Baltick  sea,  were  employed  to  transport  into  Sweden  the 
prisoners  he  had  made  in  Poland.  Sweden,  tranquil  in  the 
midst  of  these  great  commotions,  enjoyed  a  profound  peace, 
and  shared  in  the  glory  of  its  king  without  bearing  the  bur- 
dens of  war,  as  the  victorious  troops  were  paid  and  main- 
tained at  the  expense  of  the  conquered. 

In  this  general  silence  of  the  north  before  the  arms  of 
Charles  XII.,  the  town  of  Dantzick  dared  to  displease  him 


KING  OF  SWEDEN.  79 

Fourteen  frigates  and  forty  transports  were  bringing  the  king 
a  reinforcement  of  six  thousand  men,  with  cannon  and  am- 
munition, to  begin  the  siege  of  Thorn.  It  was  necessary  for 
these  succours  to  pass  the  Vistula.  At  the  mouth  of  this 
river  is  Dantzick,  a  free  and  wealthy  town,  which  enjoys, 
with  Thorn  and  Elbing,  the  same  privileges  in  Poland  tlxit 
the  imperial  towns  possess  in  Germany.  Its  liberty  has  been 
alternately  attacked  by  the  Danes,  the  Swedes,  and  several 
princes  of  Germany,  and  nothing  has  preserved  it  but  the 
mutual  jealousy  of  those  powers.  Count  Steinbock,  one  of 
the  Swedish  generals,  assembled  the  magistrates  in  the  king's 
name,  and  demanded  passage  for  the  troops  and  ammunition. 
The  magistrates,  with  an  imprudence  common  to  those  who 
treat  with  a  superior  power,  were  afraid  either  to  refuse,  or 
absolutely  to  grant  his  request.  The  general,  however, 
obliged  them  to  grant  him  more  than  he  had  at  first  demand- 
ed; and  even  laid  the  town  under  a  contribution  of  a  hun- 
dred thousand  crowns,  by  which  means  he  made  them  pay 
for  their  imprudent  hesitation.  At  last,  the  reinforcement, 
cannon,  and  ammunition,  having  arrived  before  Thorn,  they 
began  the  siege  the  22d  of  September. 

Robel,  governor  of  this  place,  defended  it  for  a  month 
with  a  garrison  of  five  thousand  men;  at  the  end  of  which 
time  he  was  obliged  to  surrender  at  discretion.  The  garri- 
son was  made  prisoners  of  war,  and  sent  into  Sweden.  Ro- 
bel was  presented  to  the  king  disarmed.  That  prince,  who 
never  lost  an  opportunity  of  honouring  merit  in  his  enemies, 
gave  him  a  sword  with  his  own  hand,  made  him  a  considera- 
ble present  in  money,  and  dismissed  him  on  his  parole. 
The  honour  which  the  town  of  Thorn  derived  from  having 
formerly  given  birth  to  Copernicus,  the  founder  of  the  true 
system  of  the  globe,  was  of  no  service  to  it  with  a  conqueror 
too  little  acquainted  with  these  subjects,  and  who  had  not 
yet  learned  to  reward  any  thing  but  valour.  But  this  poor 
and  paltry  town  was  condemned  to  pay  forty  thousand 
crowns  ;  an  excessive  contribution  for  such  a  place. 

Elbing,  built  on  an  arm  of  the  Vistula,  founded  by  tho 


80 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


Teutonic  knights,  and  annexed  likewise  to  Poland,  did  not 
profit  by  the  fault  of  the  Dantzickers,  but  hesitated  too  long 
about  giving  passage  to  the  Swedish  troops.  It  was  still 
more  severely  punished  than  Dantzick.  Charles  entered 
Elbing  the  13th  of  Dec.  at  the  head  of  four  thousand  men, 
with  the  bayonets  fixed  to  the  ends  of  their  fusees.  The 
inhabitants,  struck  with  terror,  threw  themselves  on  their 
knees  in  the  streets,  and  begged  for  mercy.  He  had  them 
all  disarmed,  quartered  his  soldiers  upon  the  citizens,  and 
then,  having  sent  for  the  magistracy,  he  exacted,  that  very 
day,  a  contribution  of  two  hundred  and  sixty  thousand  crowns. 
There  were  in  the  town  two  hundred  pieces  of  cannon,  and 
four  hundred  thousand  weight  of  powder,  which  he  seized. 
A  battle  gained  could  not  have  procured  him  so  many  ad- 
vantages. 

All  these  successes  were  the  forerunners  to  the  dethroning 
the  king  of  Poland. 

Scarcely  had  the  cardinal  swore  to  his  king  that  he  would 
attempt  nothing  against  him,  than  he  repaired  to  the  assem- 
bly at  Warsaw,  always  under  the  pretext  of  peace.  He  ar- 
rived, speaking  of  nothing  but  of  concord  and  obedience, 
though  he  was  accompanied  by  a  number  of  soldiers  whom 
he  had  raised  on  his  own  estate.  At  last  he  threw  oft'  the 
mask,  and  on  the  14th  of  February,  1704,  in  the  name  of 
the  assembly,  declared  "  Augustus,  elector  of  Saxony,  inca- 
pable of  wearing  the  crown  of  Poland."  They  all  pronoun- 
ced with  one  voice,  the  throne  to  be  vacant.  The  wish  of 
the  king  of  Sweden,  and  consequently  that  of  the  diet,  was 
to  give  to  Prince  James  Sobiesky  the  throne  of  the  king  his 
father,  King  John.  James  Sobiesky  was,  at  this  time,  at 
Breslaw  in  Silesia,  waiting  with  impatience  for  the  crown 
which  his  father  had  worn.  He  was  one  day  hunting,  with 
Prince  Constantine,  one  of  his  brothers,  a  few  miles  from 
Breslaw,  when  thirty  Saxon  horsemen,  secretly  sent  by  King 
Augustus,  rushing  suddenly  out  of  a  neighbouring  wood,  sur- 
rounded the  two  princes,  and  carried  them  off  without  re- 
sistance.   Fresh  horses  had  been  prepared,  on  which  they 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


81 


were  conducted  to  Leipsick,  and  there  closely  confined.* 
This  stroke  deranged  the  measures  of  Charles,  the  cardinal, 
and  the  whole  assembly  of  Warsaw. 

Fortune,  who  sports  with  crowned  heads,  placed  almost 
at  the  same  instant  Augustus  in  danger  of  being  nearly  taken 
himself.  He  was  at  table,  three  leagues  from  Cracow,  re- 
lying upon  an  advanced  guard,  posted  at  some  distance, 
when  General  Renschild  appeared,  after  having  carried  off 
his  guard.  The  king  of  Poland  had  but  just  time  to  mount 
his  horse,  with  ten  others.  General  Renschild  pursued  him 
for  three  days,  on  the  point  of  seizing  him  every  moment. 
The  king  fled  as  far  as  Sendomir,  the  Swedish  general  still 
pursuing  him ;  and  it  was  only  by  singular  good  fortune  that 
this  prince  escaped. 

During  all  this  time,  Augustus's  party  and  that  of  the  car- 
dinal treated  each  other  as  traitors.  The  army  of  the  crown 
was  divided  between  these  two  factions.  Augustus,  at  last, 
forced  to  accept  of  support  from  the  Muscovites,  repented 
that  he  had  not  had  recourse  to  them  sooner.  One  time  he  fled 
into  Saxony,  where  his  resources  were  exhausted ;  then  he 
returned  to  Poland,  where  no  one  dared  to  assist  him.  On 
the  other  hand,  the  king  of  Sweden,  victorious  and  tranquil, 
reigned  over  Poland  more  absolutely  than  Augustus  had  ever 
done. 

Count  Piper,  who  had  a  mind  as  much  formed  for  politics 
as  his  master's  was  for  true  greatness,  now  proposed  to 
Charles  XII.  that  he  should  himself  take  the  crown  of  Po- 
land. He  represented  to  him  how  easy  it  might  be  done, 
with  a  victorious  army,  and  a  powerful  party  in  the  heart  of 
the  kingdom  already  subdued.  He  tempted  him  wit.h  the 
title  of  '•  Defender  of  the  Evangelical  Religion,"  a  name 
which  flattered  the  ambition  of  Charles.  It  would  be  easy, 
he  said,  to  do  in  Poland  what  Gustavus  Vasa  had  done  in 
Sweden — to  establish  Lutheranism,  and  to  break  the  chains 
of  the  people,  already  enslaved  by  the  nobility  and  clergy. 
Charles  was  tempted  for  a  moment ;  but  glory  was  his  idol. 
To  that  he  sacrificed  his  own  interest,  and  the  pleasure  he 


82 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


would  have  enjoyed  in  taking  Poland  from  the  pope.  He 
told  Count  Piper  that  he  was  more  flattered  by  giving  than 
gaining  kingdoms  :  and  added,  smiling,  "you  was  intended 
for  the  minister  of  an  Italian  prince." 

Charles  was  still  near  Thorn,  in  that  part  of  royal  Prussia 
which  belongs  to  Poland ;  from  whence  he  extended  his 
views  to  what  was  passing  at  Warsaw,  and  kept  the  neigh- 
bouring powers  in  awe.  Prince  Alexander,  brother  to  the 
two  Sobieskies  who  were  carried  into  Silesia,  came  and  im- 
plored his  assistance  to  revenge  his  wrongs.  Charles  granted 
his  request  so  much  the  more  readily,  as  he  imagined  he 
could  revenge  himself  at  the  same  time.  But  impatient  to 
give  a  king  to  Poland,  he  proposed  to  Prince  Alexander  his 
mounting  the  throne,  from  which  fortune  seemed  determined 
to  exclude  his  brother.  Charles  little  expected  a  refusal ; 
but  Prince  Alexander  told  him,  that  nothing  should  ever  en- 
gage him  to  profit  by  the  misfortunes  of  his  elder  brother. 
The  king  of  Sweden,  Count  Piper,  all  his  friends,  and  par- 
ticularly the  young  palatine  of  Posnania,  Stanislaus  Lec- 
zinsky,  pressed  him  to  accept  the  crown  :  he  was  resolute. 
The  neighbouring  princes  heard  with  astonishment  this  un- 
common refusal,  and  knew  not  which  to  admire  most,  a  king 
of  Sweden  who  at  twenty-two  years  of  age  gave  away  the 
crown  of  Poland,  or  Prince  Alexander  who  refused  it. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN 


BOOK  III. 

Argument. — Stanislaus  Leczinsky  elected  king  of  Poland. — Death  of 
the  cardinal  primate. — Skilful  retreat  of  General  Schulembourg. — Ex- 
ploits of  the  czar. — Foundation  of  Petersburgh. — Battle  of  Frauenstad. 
— Charles  enters  Saxony. — Peace  of  Altranstadt. — Augustus  abdicates 
the  crown  in  favour  of  Stanislaus. — General  Patkul,  the  czar's  pleni- 
potentiary, is  broke  upon  the  wheel  and  quartered. — Charles  receives 
the  ambassadors  of  foreign  princes. — Visits  Augustus. 

Young  Stanislaus  Leczinsky  was,  at  this  time,  deputed 
by  the  assembly  of  Warsaw  to  make  a  report  to  the  king 
of  Sweden  of  several  differences  which  had  arisen  during 
the  absence  of  Prince  James.    Stanislaus  had  a  happy  coun- 
tenance, full  of  boldness  and  sweetness,  with  an  air  of  pro- 
bity and  frankness,  which  of  all  external  advantages  is  the 
greatest,  and  gives  more  force  to  words  than  even  eloquence 
itself.    The  wisdom  with  which  he  discoursed  of  the  King 
Augustus,  the  assembly,  the    cardinal  primate,  and  of  the 
different  interests  which  divided  Poland,  struck  Charles. 
King  Stanislaus  did  me  the  honour  to  relate  to  me,  that  he 
said  to  the  king  of  Sweden,  in  Latin,  "  How  can  we  proceed 
to  an  election,  if  the  two  princes,  James  and  Constantine  So- 
biesky,  are  captives?"  and  that  Charles  made  answer,  "How 
can  we  deliver  the  republic,  if  we  do  not  make  an  election  ?" 
This  conversation  was  the  only  intrigue  that  placed  Stanis- 
laus on  the  throne.    Charles  prolonged  the  conference,  that 
he  might  the  better  sound  the  genius  of  the  young  deputy. 
After  the  audience,  he  said  aloud,  that  till  then  he  had  not 
seen  a  man  so  proper  to  reconcile  all  parties.    He  made  no 
delay  in  informing  himself  of  the  character  of  the  Palatine  Lec- 
zinsky.   He  learnt  that  he  was  full  of  bravery,  and  inured  to 
fatigue ;  that  he  accustomed  himself  to  sleep  on  a  straw  mat- 
tress, and  would  not  have  any  of  his  domestics  to  attend  his 
person ;  that  he  observed  a  temperance  not  common  to  that 
climate,  possessed  great  economy,  was  adored  by  his  vassals, 
and  the  only  lord,  perhaps,  in  Poland,  who  had  any  friends  at 


84 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


a  time  when  men  acknowledged  no  ties  hut  those  of  interest 
and  faction.  This  character,  which  in  several  things  accord- 
ed with  his  own,  determined  him  entirely;  and  at  the  end 
of  the  conference  he  said  aloud,  "  There  is  the  man  that  shall 
always  be  my  friend;"  which  words  they  soon  perceived  sig- 
nified, "  There  is  the  man  that  shall  be  king." 

Charles,  who  had  taken  his  resolution  on  the  instant,  could 
not  have  found,  in  all  Poland,  a  fnan  more  proper  to  reconcile 
all  parties  than  the  person  he  had  chosen.  The  leading  fea- 
tures of  his  character  were  humanity  and  benevolence. 
Wheu  Stanislaus  was  afterwards  withdrawn  into  the  dutchy 
of  Deux  Pouts,  some  partizans  who  had  formed  a  design  of 
carrying  him  off  were  taken  in  his  presence.  "  What  have  I 
done  to  you,"  said  he  to  them,  "  that  you  would  deliver  me  to 
my  enemies  ?  Of  what  country  are  you  ?"  Three  of  these  ad- 
venturers replied  that  they  were  Frenchmen.  "  Well,  then," 
said  he,  "be  like  your  countrymen,  whom  I  esteem,  and  be 
incapable  of  a  vile  action."  When  he  had  finished  speaking, 
he  gave  them  all  that  he  had  about  him,  his  money,  watch, 
and  gold  box,  and  they  quitted  him  with  tears  and  with  ad- 
miration.   This  I  know  from  two  ocular  witnesses. 

I  can  say,  with  the  same  certainty,  that  one  day  as  he  wTas 
arranging  the  state  of  his  household,  he  put  upon  the  list  a 
French  officer  who  was  attached  ti  him.  The  treasurer  asked 
in  what  quality  his  majesty  chose  he  should  be  upon  the  list. 
"In  quality  of  my  friend,"  said  the  prinse. 

I  have  seen  a  long  work  which  he  had  composed,  to  reform, 
if  it  had  been  possible,  the  laws  and  manners  of  his  country. 
In  this  writing  he  makes  a  sacrifice  of  the  privileges  of  the 
nobility  to  which  he  belonged,  and  of  the  royal  prerogative 
which  had  been  given  to  him,  to  the  public  good,  and  to  the 
necessities  of  the  people;  a  sacrifice  which  is  more  glorious 
than  the  gaining  of  battles. 

When  the  primate  of  Poland  found  that  Charles  XII.  had 
nominated  the  Palatine  Leczinsky,  as  Alexander  had  nomi- 
nated Abdalonimus,  he  repaired  to  the  king  of  Sweden,  to  en- 
deavour to  make  him  change  this  resolution,  as  he  wished  ta 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


85 


give  the  crown  to  one  Lubomirsky.  "  But  what  have  you 
to  allege  against  Stanislaus  Leczinsky  ?"  said  the  conqueror. 
"  Sire,"  said  the  primate,  "he  is  too  young."  To  which 
the  king  drily  replied,  "  he  wants  but  little  of  my  age ;" 
turned  his  back  upon  the  prelate^  and  immediately  sent  the 
Count  de  Hooru  to  signify  to  the  assembly  of  Warsaw,  that 
it  was  necessary  to  elect  a  king  in  five  days,  and  that  they 
must  also  elect  Stanislaus  Leczinsky.  The  Count  de  Hoorn 
arrived  the  7th  of  July,  and  fixed  the  day  of  election  on  the 
12th,  in  the  same  manner  as  he  would  have  ordered  the  de- 
campment of  a  battalion.  The  cardinal  primate,  disap- 
pointed of  the  fruit  of  so  many  intrigues,  returned  to  the  as- 
sembly, and  exerted  his  whole  strength  to  set  aside  an  elec- 
tion in  which  he  had  no  part.  But  the  king  of  Sweden  ar- 
riving at  Warsaw  incognito,  obliged  him,  for  that  time,  to  be 
silent.  All  that  the  primate  could  now  do  was  not  to  be  pre- 
sent at  the  election  ;  and  as  he  could  neither  oppose  the  con- 
queror, nor  was  willing  to  second  him,  he  confined  himself 
to  an  useless  neutrality. 

Saturday,  the  12th  of  July,  the  day  fixed  for  the  election, 
being  come,  they  assembled  at  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon 
at  Colo,  the  place  appointed  for  this  ceremony;  the  bishop 
of  £osnania  came  and  presided  at  the  assembly,  in  the  place 
of  the  cardinal  primate.  He  arrived  attended  by  several 
gentlemen  of  the  party.  The  Count  de  Hoorn  and  two 
other  general  officers  assisted  publicly  at  this  solemnity,  as 
ambassadors  extraordinary  from  Charles  to  the  republic. 
The  session  lasted  till  nine  in  the  evening,  when  the  bishop 
of  Posnania  finished  it  by  declaring,  in  the  name  of  the  diet, 
Stanislaus  elected  king  of  Poland;  they  instantly  threw  up 
their  hats  into  the  air,  and  the  noise  of  their  acclamations 
drowned  the  cries  of  the  opposers. 

It  was  of  no  service  to  the  cardinal  primate,  or  to  those 
who  were  willing  to  remain  neuter,  to  absent  themselves 
from  the  election  :  they  were  obliged  the  next  day  to  attend 
and  perform  homage  to  their  new  king.  He  received  them 
as  if  he  had  been  perfectly  satisfied  with  their  conduct ;  but 

8 


86 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII, 


the  greatest  mortification  they  underwent,  was  that  of  being 
compelled  to  follow  him  to  the  quarters  of  the  king  of  Swe- 
den. That  prince  rendered  to  the  sovereign  he  had  just 
made  all  the  honours  due  to  a  king  of  Poland ;  and  to  give 
a  greater  weight  to  his  new  dignity,  he  assigned  him  both 
money  and  troops. 

Charles  XII.  departed  immediately  from  Warsaw7,  to  finish 
the  conquest  of  Poland.  He  had  ordered  his  army  to  ren- 
dezvous before  Leopold,  the  capital  of  the  great  palatinate 
of  Russia,  a  place  important  in  itself,  and  still  more  so  by 
the  riches  with  which  it  was  filled.  It  was  imagined  that 
it  would  have  held  out  fifteen  days,  on  account  of  the  forti- 
fication's which  Augustus  had  built  there.  The  conqueror 
sat  down  before  it  on  the  5th  of  September,  and  the  next 
day  took  it  by  assault.  All  who  dared  to  resist  were  put  to 
the  sword.  The  troops,  victorious  and  masters  of  the  town, 
did  not  separate  themselves  to  run  to  pillage,  notwithstand- 
ing the  great  treasures  which  were  in  Leopold.  They  ar- 
ranged themselves  in  order  of  battle  in  the  great  square. 
There,  those  who  remained  in  the  garrison  came  and  sur- 
rendered themselves  prisoners  of  war.  The  king  caused  it 
to  be  published  by  the  sound  of  trumpet,  that  all  those  in- 
habitants who  had  any  effects  belonging  to  Augustus  or  his 
adherents,  should  bring  them  to  him  before  the  close  of  the 
day,  on  pain  of  death.  The  measures  were  so  well  taken, 
that  few  dared  to  disobey ;  and  four  hundred  chests,  filled 
with  gold  and  silver  coin,  plate,  and  other  valuable  things, 
were  brought  to  the  king. 

The  beginning  of  the  reign  of  Stanislaus  was  distinguished 
almost  at  the  same  time  by  an  event  widely  different.  Some 
affairs  which  absolutely  demanded  his  presence  had  obliged 
him  to  remain  at  Warsaw.  He  had  with  him  his  mother, 
his  wife,  and  two  daughters.  In  this  confusion  he  had  nearly 
lost  his  second  daughter,  who  was  but  one  year  old.  She 
had  been  carried  away  by  her  nurse,  who  had  lost  her  way, 
and  he  found  her  in  the  manger  of  a  stable  in  a  neighbour- 
ing village,  where  she  had  been  abandoned.    It  was  this 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


8T 


very  infant  whom  fate,  after  still  greater  vicissitudes,  eleva- 
ted to  be  queen  of  France. 

The  cardinal  primate,  the  bishop  of  Posnania,  and  some 
grandees  of  Poland,  composed  his  new  court.  It  was  guard- 
ed by  six  thousand  Poles  of  the  army  of  the  crown,  who  had 
lately  entered  into  his  service,  but  whose  fidelity  had  not  as 
yet  been  proved.  General  Hoorn,  governor  of  the  town, 
had  not  more  than  fifteen  hundred  Swedes  with  him.  There 
was  a  profound  tranquillity  at  Warsaw,  and  Stanislaus  pro- 
posed to  deport  in  a  few  days  for  the  conquest  of  Leopold; 
when  all  on  a  sudden,  he  was  informed  that  a  numerous  ar- 
my was  approaching  the  town.  It  was  King  Augustus,  who, 
by  a  new  effort,  and  one  of  the  most  skilful  marches  that 
ever  general  made,  had  deceived  the  king  of  Sweden,  and 
was  coming  with  twenty  thousand  men  to  fall  upon  Warsaw, 
and  to  carry  off  his  rival. 

Warsaw  was  very  ill  fortified  ;  the  Polish  troops  who  were 
to  defend  it,  were  not  to  be  relied  on  ;  and  Augustus  having 
spies  in  the  town,  Stanislaus  must  have  perished  had  he  re- 
mained there.  He  accordingly  sent  back  his  family  into 
Posnania,  under  a  guard  of  Polish  troops,  such  as  he  had 
most  confidence  in.  The  cardinal  primate  fled  among  the 
first  to  the  frontiers  of  Prussia ;  many  of  the  nobles  took 
different  roads ;  as  for  the  new  king,  he  immediately  set  out 
to  find  Charles  XII.,  learning,  at  an  early  period,  to  suffer 
disgrace,  and  forced  to  quit  the  capital,  of  which  he  had  been 
but  six  weeks  before  elected  sovereign.  The  bishop  of 
Posnania  was  the  only  person  who  could  not  escape ;  he  was 
confined  by  a  dangerous  distemper  in  Warsaw.  Part  of  the 
six  thousand  Poles  followed  Stanislaus,  the  rest  escorted  his 
family.  Such  whose  fidelity  it  was  not  judged  prudent  to 
expose  to  the  temptation  of  returning  to  the  service  of  Augus- 
tus, were  sent  into  Posnania.  As  for  General  Hoorn,  who 
was  governor  of  Warsaw  for  the  king  of  Sweden,  he  remain- 
ed with  his  fifteen  hundred  Swedes  in  the  castle. 

Augustus  entered  into  his  capital  as  a  sovereign  irritated 
and  triumphant.    The  inhabitants  before  laid  under  contri- 


ss 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


bution  by  the  king  of  Sweden,  were  still  more  hardly  treat- 
ed by  Augustus.  The  cardinal's  palace,  and  all  the  houses 
of  the  confederate  lords,  with  all  their  wealth,  both  in  town 
and  country,  were  given  to  pillage.  What  was  the  most 
surprising  in  this  sudden  revolution  was,  that  the  pope's  nun- 
cio, who  came  with  King  Augustus,  demanded,  in  the  name  of 
his  master,  that  they  should  deliver  up  to  him  the  bishop  of 
Posnania,  as  subject  to  the  church  of  Rome,  in  the  quality  of 
a  bishop,  and  the  favour  of  a  prince  placed  on  the  throne  by 
the  arms  of  a  Lutheran. 

The  court  of  Rome,  which  has  always  strove  to  augment 
its  temporal  power  by  means  of  its  spiritual,  had,  a  longtime 
since,  established  in  Poland  a  kind  of  jurisdiction,  at  the 
head  of  which  is  the  pope's  nuncio.  Its  minister's  never 
let  slip  any  favourable  opportunity  to  extend  their  power :  a 
power  revered  by  the  multitude,  but  always  opposed  by  those 
of  more  wisdom.  They  attributed  to  themselves  a  right  to 
judge  of  all  ecclesiastical  causes ;  and,  in  times  of  trouble, 
had  usurped  several  other  prerogatives,  in  which  they  main- 
tained themselves  till  about  the  year  1728,  when  these 
abuses  wrere  corrected ;  abuses,  such  as  are  never  reformed 
till  they  become  absolutely  intolerable.  Augustus,  happy  in 
any  opportunity  of  punishing  the  bishop  of  Posnania  with 
decorum,  and,  at  the  same  time,  desirous  to  please  the  court 
of  Rome,  against  which  at  any  other  time  he  would  have 
exerted  himself,  delivered  the  Polish  prelate  into  the  hands 
of  the  nuncio.  The  bishop,  after  beholding  his  house  pilla- 
ged, was  carried  by  the  soldiers  to  the  house  of  the  Italian 
minister,  and  from  thence  sent  into  Saxony,  where  he  died. 
Count  de  Hoorn  sustained,  in  the  castle,  where  he  was  shut 
up,  the  continual  fire  of  the  enemy ;  till  the  place  being  no 
longer  able  to  hold  out,  he  surrendered  himself  prisoner  of 
war,  together  with  his  fifteen  hundred  Swedes.  This  was 
the  first  advantage  that  Augustus  had,  during  the  torrent  of 
his  bad  fortune,  over  the  victorious  army  of  his  enemy. 

This  last  effort  "was  the  blaze  of  a  fire  that  was  just  going 
out.    His  troops,  who  were  assembled  in  haste,  consisted  of 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


89 


Poles,  ready  to  abandon  him  on  the  first  misfortune  ;  of  Sax- 
on recruits  who  had  never  till  then  seen  any  thing  of  war  ; 
of  vagabond  Cossacks,  more  fit  to  plunder  the  conquered 
than  to  conquer ;  and  all  of  them  trembled  at  the  very  name 
of  the  king  of  Sweden. 

That  conqueror,  accompanied  by  King  Stanislaus,  went  to 
seek  his  enemy,  at  the  head  of  his  choicest  troops.  The 
Saxon  army  fled  every  where  before  him.  The  towns  for 
thirty  miles  round  sent  him  their  keys  ;  nor  was  there  a  day 
which  was  not  signalized  by  some  advantage.  Success  be- 
came too  familiar  to  Charles.  He  said,  u  it  was  rather  go- 
ing to  hunt,  than  going  to  war,"  and  complained  that  his 
victories  cost  him  so  little. 

Augustus  entrusted  the  command  of  his  army  for  some 
time  to  Count  de  Schulembourg,  a  very  able  general,  but 
who  had  need  of  all  his  experience  at  the  head  of  a  dispirit- 
ed army.  He  studied  more  to  preserve  his  master's  troops, 
than  to  conquer.  He  carried  on  the  war  by  stratagem,  the 
two  kings  pushed  it  with  vigour.  He  stole  several  marches 
upon  them,  took  possession  of  some  advantageous  posts,  and 
sacrificed  part  of  his  cavalry  to  give  his  infantry  time  to  make 
a  sure  retreat. 

After  many  feints  and  countermarches,  he  found  himself 
near  Punitz,  in  the  palatinate  of  Posnania,  thinking  ^hat 
Stanislaus  and  the  king  of  Sweden  were  at  fifty  leagues  dis- 
tance from  him.  He  learned  upon  his  arrival,  that  the  two 
kings  had  marched  those  fifty  leagues  in  nine  days,  and  that 
they  were  come  to  attack  him  with  ten  or  twelve  thousand 
horse.  Schulembourg  had  but  eight  thousand  foot  and  a 
thousand  horse. 

It  was  necessary  to  maintain  himself  against  a  superior 
army,  against  the  name  of  the  king  of  Sweden,  and  against 
the  natural  fear  with  which  so  many  defeats  had  naturally 
inspired  the  Saxons.  He  had  always  maintained,  'against 
the  opinions  of  the  German  generals,  that  infantry  was  able 
to  resist  cavalry  in  the  open  field,  even  without  the  assistance 
«f  chevaux-de-frise  j  and  he  this  dav  made  the  experiment 

8* 


90 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


against  a  victorious  cavalry,  commanded  by  the  two  kings, 
and  by  the  choicest  of  the  Swedish  generals.  He  posted 
himself  so  advantageously,  that  he  could  not  be  surrounded. 
The  first  rank,  armed  with  pikes  and  fusees,  knelt  down 
with  one  knee  upon  the  ground ;  and  the  soldiers  placed 
closely  together,  presented  to  the  enemy's  horse  a  kind  of 
rampart,  pointed  with  pikes  and  bayonets;  the  second  rank 
inclined  a  little  over  the  shoulders  of  the  first ;  and  the 
third,  standing  upright,  fired  at  the  same  time  from  behind 
the  other  two.  The  Swedes,  with  their  usual  impetuosity, 
pressed  down  upon  the  Saxons,  who  expected  them  with 
firmness :  the  fire  of  the  fusees,  together  with  the  points  of 
the  pikes  and  bayonets,  maddened  their  horses,  who  began 
to  rear  instead  of  advancing.  By  these  means  the  Swedes 
attacked  in  disorder,  and  the  Saxons  defended  themselves 
by  keeping  their  ranks. 

If  Charles  had  dismounted  his  cavalry,  Schulembourg's 
army  must  have  been  routed  without  resource.  This  was 
the  chief  apprehension  of  that  general,  who  expected  that 
hie  enemy  would  take  this  resolution  every  moment ;  but 
neither  the  king  of  Sweden,  who  had  so  often  put  in  prac- 
tice all  the  stratagems  of  war,  nor  any  of  his  generals,  con- 
ceived  this  idea.  This  unequal  combat  of  a  body  of  cavalry 
against  infantry,  continued  with  frequent  interruptions,  and 
resumed  attacks,  near  three  hours.  The  Swedes  lost  more 
horses  than  men.  Schulembourg  gave  ground  at  last,  but 
his  troops  were  not  broken,  fie  formed  them  into  an  ob- 
long square;  and  though  he  was  wounded  in  five  places,  he  in 
this  form  maintained  an  orderly  retreat  in  the  middle  of  the 
night,  into  the  little  town  of  Gurau,  about  three  leagues 
from  the  field  of  battle.  But  he  had  scarcely  begun  to 
breathe  in  this  place,  when  the  two  kings  suddenly  appear- 
ed after  him. 

Beyond  Gurau,  in  marching  towards  the  river  Oder,  was 
a  thick  wood,  by  leading  them  through  which  the  Saxon 
general  saved  his  fatigued  infantry.  The  Swedes,  without 
hesitation,  pursued  them  through  the  wood,  advancing  with 


KING  OF  SWEDEN.  91 

difficulty  through  paths  scarcely  passable  by  foot-travellers. 
The  Saxons  had  not  crossed  the  wood  above  five  hours  be- 
'  fore  the  Swedish  cavalry.  On  the  other  side  of  this  wood 
runs  the  river  Parts,  at  the  foot  of  a  village  named  Rutsen. 
Schulembourg  had  sent  for  boats  to  be  immediately  assem- 
bled, who  carried  over  his  troops,  of  which  half  were  de- 
stroyed. Charles  arrived  at  the  same  time  that  Schulem- 
bourg had  reached  the  opposite  shore.  .  Never  did  a  con- 
queror pursue  his  enemy  so  vigorously.  The  reputation  of 
Schulembourg  depended  upon  his  escaping  from  the  king  of 
Sweden :  the  king  of  Sweden,  on  his  side,  imagined  his 
glory  interested  in  taking  Schulembourg,  and  the  remains 
of  his  army  :  he  lost  no  time,  but  made  his  cavalry  swim  over. 
The  Saxons  found  themselves  shut  up  between  this  river  of 
Parts  and  the  great  river  of  the  Oder,  which  takes  its  source 
in  Silesia,  and  is  very  deep  and  rapid  at  this  place. 

The  destruction  of  Schulembourg  appeared  inevitable  :  he 
attempted^  however,  to  extricate  himself  from  this  extremity 
by  one  of  those  strokes  of  art  which  are  equivalent  to  victo- 
ries, and  which  are  so  much  the  more  glorious  as  fortune 
has  no  share  in  them.  He  had  no  more  than  four  thousand 
men  remaining  :  upon  his  right  was  a  mill,  which  he  filled 
with  his  grenadiers  ;  upon  his  left,  a  marsh  ;  a  ditch  lay  be- 
fore him ;  and  his  rear-guard  was  upon  the  banks  of  the  Oder. 
He  had  no  pontoons  for  passing  the  river,  but  so  early  as  tjie 
evening  before,  he  had  ordered  floats  to  be  prepared.  Charles 
the  moment  of  his  arrival  attacked  the  mill ;  persuaded,  that 
as  soon  as  it  was  taken,  the  Saxons  must  either  perish  in  the 
river  or  in  the  field,  or  that  at  least  they  must  surrender  at 
discretion,  together  with  their  general.  However,  the  floats 
were  ready,  the  Saxons  passed  the  Oder  by  favour  of  the 
night,  and  when  Charles  had  forced  the  mill,  he  no  longer 
found  the  enemy's  army.  The  two  kings  bestowed  their 
encomiums  upon  this  retreat,  which  is  to  this  day  spoken  of 
with  admiration  in  the  empire,  and  Charles  could  not  pre- 
vent himself  from  saying,  "  Schulembourg  has  conquered 
us  to-day;"  but  what  covered  Schulembourg  with  honour 


92 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


scarcely  proved  of  any  service  to  Augustus.  That  prince 
abandoned  Poland  once  more  to  his  enemies  :  he  retired  into 
Saxony,  and  prepared  with  precipitation  the  fortifications  of 
Dresden  ;  being  afraid,  and  not  without  reason,  for  the  capi- 
tal of  his  hereditary  dominions. 

Charles  XII.  now  beheld  Poland  reduced  to  subjection  ; 
and  his  generals,  following  their  king's  example,  had  just 
beat  in  Courland  several  small  bodies  of  the  Muscovites, 
who,  since  the  great  battle  of  Narva,  had  only  shown  them- 
selves in  small  parties,  and  made  war  in  those  quarters  like 
the  vagabond  Tartars,  who  pillage,  fly,  and  then  return  only 
to  fly  again. 

Wherever  the  Swedes  came,  they  imagined  themselves 
sure  of  a  victory,  even  when  they  were  only  twenty  to  a  hun- 
dred. At  this  happy  conjuncture,  Stanislaus  prepared  for 
his  coronation.  Fortune,  who  had  elected  him  at  Warsaw, 
and  who  had  also  driven  him  thence,  again  recalled  him 
thither,  amidst  the  acclamations  of  a  crowd  of  nobility,  whom 
the  fortune  of  war  had  attached  to  him."  A  diet  was  there 
convened,  and  every  obstacle  removed ;  nor  were  there  any 
but  the  court  of  Rome  who  opposed  him. 

It  wTas  natural  for  Rome  to  declare  for  King  Augustus,  who 
from  a  protestant  had  become  a  catholic,  that  he  might  mount 
the  throne ;  and  against  Stanislaus,  placed  on  the  same  throne 
by  the  great  enemy  of  the  catholic  religion.  Clement  XII., 
at  that  time  pope,  sent  briefs  to  every  prelate  of  Poland, 
and  above  all  to  the  cardinal  primate,  by  which  he  threaten- 
ed excommunication  to  those  who  dared  to  assist  at  the  con- 
secration of/Stanislaus,  or  attempt  any  thing  against  the 
rights  of  King  Augustus. 

If  these  briefs  were  delivered  to  the  bishops  who  were  at 
Warsaw,  it  was  to  be  feared  that  some  would  obey  through 
weakness ;  and  that  the  greater  part,  availing  themselves  of 
the  circumstance,  would  render  themselves  more  trouble- 
some, as  they  were  the  more  necessary.  Every  precaution 
was  therefore  used,  that  the  letters  of  the  pope  should  not 
be  received  in  Warsaw.    However,  a  Franciscan  received 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


93 


the  briefs  secretly,  in  order  that  he  might  deliver  them 
into  the  prelate's  hands.  He  immediately  gave  one  to 
the  suffragan  of  Chelm  :  this  prelate,  who  was  strongly  at- 
tached to  Stanislaus,  carried  it  to  the  king  unopened.  The 
king  caused  the  monk  to  be  brought  to  him,  and  asked  him 
how  he  dared  to  take  charge  of  such  a  business.  The  Fran- 
ciscan replied,  that  it  was  by  order  of  his  general.  Stanis- 
laus desired  him  for  the  future,  to  mind  the  orders  of  his  king 
in  preference  to  those  of  the  general  of  the  Franciscans ; 
and  instantly  banished  him  the  town. 

The  same  day  a  placard  was  published  by  the  king  of  Swe- 
den, by  which  it  was  forbidden,  under  the  most  grievous 
penalties,  to  all  ecclesiastics,  secular  as  well  as  regular,  then 
in  Warsaw,  to  meddle  with  the  affairs  of  state.  For  greater 
security,  he  had  guards  planted  at  the  gates  of  every  prelate, 
and  forbade  any  stranger  to  enter  the  town.  He  took  upon 
himself  these  little  severities,  in  order  that  Stanislaus  should 
not  quarrel  with  the  clergy  at  his  accession.  He  said,  that 
he  relaxed  himself  from  his  military  fatigues  in  stopping  the 
intrigues  of  the  Romish  court,  and  that  he  must  fight  against 
that  with  paper,  when  he  was  obliged  to  attack  other  sove- 
reigns with  real  arms. 

The  cardinal  primate  was  solicited  by  Charles  and  Stanislaus 
to  come  and  perform  the  ceremony  of  the  coronation.  But 
as  he  did  not  imagine  himself  obliged  to  quit  Dantzick  to 
consecrate  a  king  whom  he  did  not  wish  to  have  been  elect- 
ed, and  as  his  policy  was  never  to  do  any  thing  without' a  pre- 
text, he  resolved  to  provide  a  lawful  excuse  for  his  refusal.  He, 
therefore,  caused  the  pope's  brief  to  be  fixed  in  the  night- 
time to  the  gate  of  his  own  house.  The  magistrates  of 
Dantzick,  struck  with  the  indignity,  made  strict  search  after 
the  offenders,  but  they  were  never  found.  The  primate 
feigned  to  be  irritated,  but  nevertheless  was  well  satisfied- 
He  had  now  a  pretext  for  not  consecrating  the  new  king ; 
and  at  the  same  time  kept  fair  with  Charles  XII.,  Augustus, 
Stanislaus,  and  the  pope.  He  died  a  few  days  after,  leaving 
his  country  in  a  dreadful  confusion,  and  had  gained  no  ad- 


94 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


vantage  by  all  his  intrigues,  but  that  of  embroiling  himself 
at  once  with  the  three  kings,  Charles,  Augustus,  and  Stan- 
islaus, with  the  republic,  and  with  the  pope,  who  had  order- 
ed him  to  repair  to  Rome,  to  give  an  account  of  his  conduct : 
but  as  even  politicians  have  sometimes  remorse  in  their  last 
moments,  he  wrote  to  King  Augustus,  on  his  death  bed,  be- 
seeching his  pardon. 

The  consecration  was  performed  with  tranquillity  and 
magnificence,  the  4th  of  October,  1705,  in  the  city  of  War- 
saw, notwithstanding  the  custom  which  subsists  in  Poland 
of  crowning  the  kings  at  Cracow.  Stanislaus  Leczinsky  and 
his  wife  Charlotta  Opalinska  were  consecrated  king  and 
queen  of  Poland  by  the  hands  of  the  archbishop  of  Leopold, 
assisted  by  several  other  prelates.  Charles  XII.  saw  the 
ceremony  incognito,  the  only  advantage  he  reaped  from  his 
conquests. 

While  he  was  giving  a  king  to  the  conquered  Poles,  and 
Denmark  did  not  dare  to  trouble  him  ;  while  the  king  of 
Prussia  sought  his  friendship,  and  Augustus  was  withdraw- 
ing himself  to  his  hereditary  dominions;  the  czar  was  be- 
coming every  day  more  and  more  formidable.  He  had  but 
weakly  supported  Augustus  in  Poland ;  but  he  had  made 
powerful  diversions  in  Ingria. 

As  for  him,  he  not  only  begun  to  be  a  good  soldier  him- 
self, but  he  likewise  taught  the  art  of  war  to  the  Musco- 
vites ;  discipline  was  established  throughout  his  troops ;  he 
had  good  engineers,  an  artillery  well  served,  and  many  good 
officers;  and  he  likewise  knew  the  great  art  of  subsisting  his 
armies.  Some  of  his  generals  had  learned  both  how  to  fight, 
and  as  occasion  required  to  decline  fighting ;  besides,  he 
formed  a  navy  capable  of  making  head  against  the  Swedes 
in  the  Baltick. 

Confiding  in  all  these  advantages  entirely  owing  to  his  own 
genius,  and  the  absence  of  the  king  of  Sweden,  he  took  Narva 
by  assault  the  21st  of  August,  in  the  year  1704,  after  a  regular 
siege,  and  after  he  had  prevented  its  receiving  any  succours, 
either  by  sea  or  land.    The  soldiers,  once  masters  of  the 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


95 


town,  ran  to  pillage,  and  abandoned  themselves  to  the  most 
enormous  barbarities.  The  czar  ran  on  every  side  to  stop  the 
disorder  and  massacre ;  he  snatched  the  women  from  the  hands 
of  the  soldiers,  who,  after  they  had  violated  them,  were  going 
to  cut  their  throats.  He  was  even  obliged  to  kill  with  his  own 
hands  several  Muscovites,  who  would  not  obey  his  orders. 
They  show  to  this  day  at  Narva,  in  the  town-house,  the  table 
upon  which  he  laid  his  sword  as  he  entered;  and  they  repeat 
the  words  with  which  he  addressed  the  citizens,  who  were 
assembled  there  :  "  It  is  not  with  the  blood  of  the  inhabi- 
tants that  this  sword  is  stained,  but  with  that  of  the  Musco- 
vites, which  I  have  shed  to  save  your  lives." 

If  the  czar  had  always  observed  this  humanity,  he  had 
been  the  first  of  men.  He  aspired  to  more  than  to  destroy 
towns  :  he,  at  that  time,  was  founding  a  city  not  far  from 
Narva,  in  the  middle  of  his  new  conquests  ;  this  was  the 
city  of  Petersburgh,  which  he  has  since  made  his  residence, 
and  the  centre  of  commerce.  It  is  situated  between  Fin- 
land and  Ingria,  in  a  marshy  island,  around  which  the  Neva 
divides  itself  into  several  branches,  before  it  falls  into  the 
Gulph  of  Finland  :  he  himself  drew  the  plan  of  the  city,  the 
fortress,  and  the  harbour,  the  quays  which  embellish  it,  and 
the  forts  which  defend  its  entrance.  This  island,  unculti- 
vated and  desert,  which  was  nothing  but  a  heap  of  mud 
during  the  short  summer  of  those  climates,  and  in  the  win- 
ter a  frozen  pool,  into  which  there  was  no  entry  but  through 
pathless  woods  and  deep  morasses,  and  which  had,  till  then, 
been  the  haunt  of  wolves  and  bears7  was  filled  in  1703  with 
above  three  hundred  thousand  men,  whom  the  czar  had  as- 
sembled from  his  dominions.  The  peasants  of  the  kingdom 
of  Astracan,  and  those  who  inhabit  the  frontiers  of  China, 
were  transported  to  Petersburgh.  He  was  obliged  to  clear 
forests,  to  make  roads,  to  drain  marshes,  and  to  raise  banks, 
before  he  could  lay  the  foundation  of  the  city.  Nature  was 
forced  in  every  thing.  The  czar  was  resolute  to  people  a 
country  which  did  not  appear  to  be  destined  for  men  ;  nei- 
ther the  inundations  which  razed  his  works,  the  sterility  of 


96 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


the  soil,  the  ignorance  of  the  workmen,  nor  even  the  mor- 
tality, which  destroyed  two  hundred  thousand  men  in  the 
beginning,  could  make  him  change  his  resolution.  The 
town  was  founded  amidst  the  obstacles  which  nature,  th 
genius  of  the  people,  and  an  unhappy  war,  had  raised  against 
it.  Petersburgh  had  become  a  city  in  1705,  and  its  harbour 
was  filled  with  ships.  The  emperor  attracted  strangers  by 
his  beneficence,  distributing  lands  to  some,  giving  houses  to 
others,  and  welcoming  every  artist  that  came  to  civilize  this 
savage  climate.  Above  all,  he  had  rendered  Petersburgh 
inaccessible  to  the  efforts  of  his  enemies.  The  Swedish 
generals,  who  frequently  beat  his  troops  in  every  other  quar- 
ter, were  not  able  to  hurt  tins  infant  colony.  It  was  tran- 
quil in  the  midst  of  the  war  which  surrounded  it. 

The  czar,  thus  creating  to  himself  new  dominions,  always 
held  out  his  hand  to  Augustus,  who  was  losing  his ;  he  per- 
suaded him  by  General  Patkul,  who  had  lately  entered  into 
the  service  of  Muscovy,  and  was  then  the  czar's  ambassador 
in  Saxony,  to  come  to  Grodno,  to  confer  with  him  once  more 
on  the  unhappy  state  of  his  affairs.  Augustus  came  there 
with  some  troops,  accompanied  by  General  Schulembourg, 
whose  passage  over  the  Oder  had  rendered  him  famous 
through  the  north,  and  in  whom  he  placed  his  last  hope. 
The  czar  arrived  there,  also  followed  by  an  army  of  70,000 
men.  These  two  monarchs  concerted  new  plans  for  carrying 
on  the  war.  Augustus,  being  dethroned,  was  no  longer  afraid 
of  irritating  the  Poles,  by  abandoning  their  country  to  the 
Muscovite  troops.  It  was  resolved  that  the  army  of  the  czar 
should  divide  itself  into  several  bodies,  to  stop  the  king  ol 
Sweden  ,at  every  step.  It  was  at  the  time  of  this  interview 
that  Augustus  renewed  the  order  of  the  White  Eagle ;  a 
weak  resource  to  attach  to  his  interest  some  Polish  lords, 
more  desirous  of  real  advantages  than  of  an  empty  honour, 
which  becomes  ridiculous  when  it  is  held  of  a  prince  who 
has  nothing  of  a  king  but  the  name.  The  conference  of  the 
two  kings  finished  in  an  extraordinary  manner.  The  czaf 
departed  suddenly,  and  left  his  troops  with  his  ally,  to  hasten 


KING  OF  SWEDEN.  97 

and  crush  a  rebellion  with  which  he  was  threatened  in  As- 
tracan.  Scarcely  was  he  gone,  before  Augustus  ordered  Pat- 
kul  to  he  arrested  at  Dresden.  All  Europe  was  surprised 
that  he  dared,  against  the  law  of  nations,  and  in  appearance 
against  his  own  interest,  to  throw  into  prison  the  ambassa- 
dor of  the  only  prince  who  protected  him. 

The  secret  spring  of  this  transaction,  as  a  son  of  King  Au- 
gustus did  me  the  honour  to  tell  me,  was  as  follows  :  Patkul, 
proscribed  in  Sweden  for  having  defended  the  privileges  of 
Livonia,  his  native  country,  had  been  general  to  Augustus ; 
but  his  high  and  lofty  spirit  could  ill  accord  with  the  haugh- 
tiness of  General  Fleming,  the  favourite  of  the  king,  who  was 
more  imperious  and  lofty  than  himself;  he,  therefore,  passed 
into  the  service  of  the  czar,  whose  general  he  then  was, 
and  his  ambassador  at  the  court  of  Augustus.  Possessed 
with  a  penetrating  genius,  he  plainly  perceived  that  the  views 
of  Flemings  and  the  chancellor  of  Saxony,  were  to  propose 
a  peace  to  the  king  of  Sweden,  at  any  price  whatsoever.  He 
immediately  formed  a  design  to  prevent  them,  and  to  effect 
an  accommodation  between  the  czar  and  Sweden.  The 
chancellor  discovered  his  project,  and  obtained  leave  to 
seize  his  person.  King  Augustus  told  the  czar  that  he  was 
a  traitor  who  betrayed  them  both.  He  was,  however,  no 
farther  culpable  than  in  having  served  his  new  master  too 
well ;  but  an  ill-timed  service  frequently  meets  with  the 
punishment  due  to  treason. 

In  the  meantime,  on  one  side,  the  seventy  thousand  Rus- 
sians, divided  into  several  small  bodies,  were  burning  and 
ravaging  the  lands  of  Stanislaus'  adherents  ;  while,  on  the 
other,  Schulembourg  was  advancing  with  fresh  troops.  The 
good  fortune  of  the  Swedes  dispersed  these  two  armies  in 
less  than  two  months.  Charles  XII.  and  Stanislaus  attacked 
the  separate  bodies  of  the  Muscovites,  one  after  the  other, 
with  such  spirit,  that  one  Muscovite  general  was  beat  before 
he  heard  of  the  defeat  of  his  companion. 

No  obstacle  could  stop  the  conqueror ;  if  he  found  a  river 
between  him  and  the  enemy,  Charles  and  his  Swedes  swam 
E  v  9 


98  HISTORY  OF  CHARLIES  XII. 

across  it.  A  party  of  Swedes  took  the  baggage  of  Augus- 
tus, in  which  were  two  hundred  thousand  crowns  of  silver 
coined.  Stanislaus  seized  eight  hundred  thousand  ducats 
belonging  to  Prince  Menzikoff,  the  Muscovite  general. 
Charles,  at  the  head  of  his  cavalry,  marched  thirty  leagues 
in  twenty-four  hours  ;  every  soldier  leading  a  horse  in  his 
hand,  to  mount  when  his  own  was  weary.  The  Muscovites, 
terrified  and  reduced  to  a  small  number,  fled  in  disorder  be- 
yond the  Boristhenes. 

While  Charles  was  driving  the  Muscovites  before  him, 
even  into  the  very  heart  of  Livonia,  Schulembourg  repassed 
the  Oder,  and  came  at  the  head  of  twenty  thousand  men  to 
give  battle  to  the  grand  Marshal  Renschild,  who  was  es- 
teemed the  best  general  of  Charles  XII.,  and  was  called  the 
Parmenio  of  this  Alexander  of  the  north.  These  two  illus- 
trious generals,  who  seemed  to  participate  of  the  destiny  of 
their  masters,  encountered  each  other  near  Punitz,  in  a  place 
called  Frauenstad,  a  spot  already  fatal  to  the  troops  of  Au- 
gustus. Renschild  had  but  thirteen  battalions,  and  twenty- 
two  squadrons,  which  made  in  all  about  ten  thousand  men. 
Schulembourg  had  double  that  number.  It  is  remarkable, 
that  he  had  in  his  army  a  body  of  six  or  seven  thousand 
Muscovites,  who  had  been  long  disciplined  in  Saxony,  and 
were  looked  upon  as  veteran  troops,  who  united  the  ferocity 
of  the  Muscovites  to  the  German  discipline.  The  battle  of 
Frauenstad  was  fought  the  12th  of  February,  1706  ;  but  this 
very  General  Schulembourg,  who,  with  four  thousand  men, 
had,  in  some  measure,  baffled  the  fortune  of  the  king  of 
Sweden,  sunk  under  that  of  General  Renschild.  The 
combat  did  not  last  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  The  Saxons 
did  not  resist  a  moment ;  and  the  Muscovites  threw  down 
their  arms  as  soon  as  they  saw  the  Swedes  :  the  panic  was 
60  sudden,  and  the  disorder  so  great,  that  the  conquerors 
found  on  the  field  of  battle  seven  thousand  loaded  fusees, 
which  the  enemy  had  thrown  down  without  firing.  Never 
was  defeat  more  sudden,  more  complete,  or  more  disgraceful; 
and  yet  no  general  ever  made  a  finer  disposition  than  Schu- 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


99 


lembourg,  even  in  the  opinion  of  the  Swedish  generals,  as 
well  as  of  the  Saxons,  who  saw  in  this  day  how  little  human 
prudence  is  mistress  of  events. 

Among  the  prisoners  they  found  an  entire  regiment  of 
French.  These  unfortunate  men  had  been  taken  by  the 
Saxon  troops  in  1704,  at  the  famous  battle  of  Hochstet,  so 
fatal  to  the  grandeur  of  Louis  XIV.  They  had  entered  since 
that,  into  the  service  of  King  Augustus,  who  had  formed 
them  into  a  regiment  of  dragoons,  and  had  giveii  the  com- 
mand to  a  Frenchman  of  the  house  of  Joyeuse.  The  colo- 
nel was  killed  at  the  first,  or  rather  the  only  charge  of  the 
Swedes,  and  the  whole  regiment  was  made  prisoners  of  war. 
The  same  day  these  Frenchmen  begged  to  serve  Charles 
XII.,  and  they  were  accordingly  received  into  his  service  by 
a  singular  destiny,  which  reserved  them  once  more  to  change 
their  conqueror  into  their  master. 

With  regard  to  the  Muscovites,  they  begged  their  lives  on 
their  knees ;  but  were  inhumanly  massacred,  about  six 
hours  after  the  combat,  to  revenge  the  violences  offered  by 
their  countrymen,  and  also  that  the  Swedes  might  get  rid 
of  prisoners  whom  they  knew  not  how  to  dispose  of. 

The  king,  upon  his  return  to  Lithuania,  learned  this  fresh 
victory ;  bat  the  satisfaction  he  received  from  it,  was  dis- 
turbed by  a  small  degree  of  jealousy.  He  could  not  prevent 
himself  from  saying,  "This  is  the  last  time  that  Renschild 
shall  be  compared  with  me." 

Augustus  now  saw  himself  without  resources;  he  had  no 
place  left  him  but  Cracow,  in  which  he  was  shut  up  with 
two  regiments  of  Muscovites,  two  of  Saxons,  and  some  troops 
of  the  army  of  the  crown,  by  whom  he  was  even  afraid  of 
being  delivered  up  to  the  conqueror;  but  his  ruin  was  com- 
plete, when  he  learned  that  Charles  XII.  was  at  last  entered 
into  Saxony,  on  the  first  of  September,  1706. 

He  had  marched  through  Silesia,  even  without  deigning 
to  advertise  the  court  of  Vienna.  Germany  was  alarmed. 
The  diet  of  Ratisbon,  which  represents  the  empire,  but 
whose  resolutions  are  often  as  ineffectual  as  solemn,  declared 


100 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


the  king  of  Sweden  an  enemy  to  the  empire,  if  he  passed 
the  Oder  with  his  army;  which  circumstance  determined  him 
to  march  the  sooner  into  Germany. 

At  his  approach,  the  villages  were  deserted,  and  the  inha- 
bitants fled  on  every  side.  Charles  behaved  here  as  at  Co- 
penhagen ;  he  caused  it  every  where  to  be  published,  that 
he  was  only  come  to  give  them  peace,  and  that  all  those  who 
would  return  home,  and  pay  the  contribution  he  demanded, 
should  be  treated  as  his  proper  subjects,  but  that  the  rest 
should  be  pursued  without  quarter.  This  declaration,  from 
a  prince  who  was  never  known  to  break  his  word,  made 
those  return  in  crowds  who  before  had  fled  from  fear.  He 
pitched  his  camp  at  Altranstad,  near  the  plain  of  Lutzen,  a 
field  famous  for  the  victory  and  death  of  Gustavus  Adolphus. 
He  went  to  see  the  place  where  that  great  man  was  killed. 
When  they  had  conducted  him  to  the  spot,  "  I  have  endea- 
voured," said  he,  "  to  live  like  him  ;  God  will  grant  me  one 
day,  perhaps,  a  death  as  glorious." 

i  He  sent  orders  from  the  camp  to  the  states  of  Saxony  to 
assemble,  and  transmit  to  him,  without  delay,  the  registers 
of  the  electoral  finances.  As  soon  as  he  had  them  in  his 
power,  and  was  informed  justly  of  what  Saxony  was  able  to 
furnish,  he  taxed  it  at  six  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand 
rix  dollars  a  month.  Besides  this  contribution,  the  Saxons  were 
obliged  to  furnish  every  Swedish  soldier  with  two  pounds  of 
flesh,  two  pounds  of  bread,  two  pots  of  beer,  and  four  sols  a 
day,  together  with  forage  for  their  horses.  The  contribu- 
tions thus  regulated,  the  king  established  a  new  police  to 
protect  the  Saxons  from  the  insults  of  his  own  soldiers;  he 
ordered,  that  in  every  town  where  he  placed  garrisons,  the 
inn-keepers  who  quartered  his  soldiers  should  give  certifi- 
cates every  month  of  their  conduct,  in  default  of  which  the 
soldier  was  not  to  have  his  pay.  Besides  this,  inspectors 
went  every  fifteen  days  from  house  to  house,  to  inform  them- 
selves whether  the  Swedes  had  committed  any  outrage ;  and 
they  were  likewise  authorized  to  indemnify  the  inn-keeper, 
and  punish  the  offender. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN 


101 


It  is  well  known  under  what  severe  discipline  the  troops 
1  of  Charles  XII.  were  kept :  that  they  never  pillaged  towns 
taken  by  assault,  before  they  received  permission;  that 
they  even  then  plundered  in  a  regular  manner,  and  left 
off  at  the  first  signal.  The  Swedes  boast  to  this  day 
of  the  discipline  which  they  observed  in  Saxony,  while 
the  Saxons  complain  of  the  terrible  outrages  they  com- 
mitted; contradictions  which  it  would  be  impossible  to 
reconcile,  were  it  not  known  how  differently  different 
men  behold  the  same  object.  It  was  scarcely  possible  but 
that  the  conquerors  would  sometimes  abuse  their  rights,  as 
the  conquered  would  take  the  slightest  injuries  for  the  most 
enormous  outrages.  One  day,  as  the  king  was  riding  near 
Leipsick,  a  Saxon  peasant  came  and  threw  himself  at  his 
feet,  beseeching  him  to  grant  him  justice  on  a  grenadier, 
who  had  just  taken  from  him  what  was  designed  for  his  fa- 
mily's dinner.  The  king  immediately  caused  the  soldier  to/ 
be  brought  to  him :  "  Is  it  true,"  said  he,  with  a  stern  coun- 
tenance, "that  you  have  robbed  this  man?"  "Sire,"  said 
the  soldier,  "  I  have  not  done  him  so  much  injury  as  you 
have  done  his  master  ;  you  have  taken  from  him  a  kingdom, 
I  have  taken  from  this  fellow  nothing  but  a  turkey."  The 
king  gave  the  peasant  ten  ducats  with  his  own  hand,  and 
pardoned  the  soldier  for  the  wit  and  boldness  of  his  reply; 
saying  to  him,  "  Remember,  friend,  that  if  I  have  taken  a 
kingdom  from  Augustus,  I  have  kept  nothing  to  myself." 

The  great  fair  of  Leipsick  was  held  as  usual;  the  mer- 
chants coming  there  in  perfect  security :  they  saw  not  one 
Swedish  soldier  in  the  fair ;  one  would  have  said  that  the 
army  of  the  king  of  Sweden  was  in  Saxony  only  to  preserve 
the  safety  of  the  country.  He  commanded  throughout  the 
electorate  with  a  power  as  absolute,  and  a  tranquillity  as  pro- 
found, as  he  did  in  Stockholm. 

King  Augustus,  wandering  in  Poland,  deprived  at  once  of 
his  kingdom  and  electorate,  at  last  wrote  a  letter  with  his 
own  hand  to  Charles  XII.,  begging  him  to  grant  a'  peace. 
He  secretly  charged  the  Baron  D'Imhoff,  in  conjunction  with 

9* 


102 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


M.  Fingstein,  refendary  of  the  privy  council,  to  carry  this 
letter,  and  gave  them  both  full  powers,  and  a  blank 
signed:  "Go,"  said  he  to  them,  "endeavour  to  obtain  for 
me  reasonable  and  christian  conditions."  He  was  reduced 
to  the  necessity  of  concealing  those  overtures,  and  to  decline 
the  open  mediation  of  any  prince  :  for,  being  then  in  Poland 
at  the  mercy  of  the  Muscovites,  he  had  reason  to  fear  that 
that  dangerous  ally,  whom  he  was  now  going  to  abandon, 
would  take  vengeance  on  him  for  his  submission  to  the  con- 
queror. His  two  plenipotentiaries  came  to  Charles's  camp 
in  the  night-time,  and  had  a.  private  audience.  The  king, 
having  read  the  letter,  told  them  they  should  have  his  an- 
swer immediately ;  and  accordingly  retiring  to  his  closet,  he 
wrote  as  follows : 

"  I  consent  to  give  peace  on  the  following  conditions,  in 
which  it  must  not  be  expected  that  I  ever  will  make  the 
least  alteration* 

I.  u  That  Augustus  renounce  forever  the  crown  of  Poland; 
that  he  acknowledge  Stanislaus  as  lawful  king  ;  and  that  he 
promise  never  to  think  of  remounting  the  throne,  not  even 
after  the  death  of  Stanislaus. 

II.  a  That  he  cancel  all  other  treaties,  particularly  those 
he  had  made  with  the  Muscovites. 

III.  "That  he  honourably  send  back  to  my  camp  the  prin- 
ces Sobiesky,  with  the  other  prisoners  whom  he  has  taken. 

IV.  "  That  he  deliver  up  all  the  deserters  who  have  en- 
tered into  his  service,  particularly  John  Patkul ;  and  that  he 
6top  all  proceedings  against  such  as  have  deserted  from  his 
service  and  entered  into  mine." 

This  written  answer  he  gave  to  Count  Piper,  with  orders 
to  settle  the  particulars  with  the  plenipotentiaries  of  Augustus. 
These  gentlemen  were  shocked  at  the  severity  of  the  pro- 
posals, and  used  all  the  little  arts  that  men  without  power 
can  employ,  to  mitigate,  if  possible,  the  rigour  of  the  king. 
They  had  several  conferences  with  Count  Piper;  but  that 
minister  answered  all  their  arguments  with  this  short  reply : 
"  Such  is  the  will  of  the  king,  my  master,  and  he  never 
changes  his  resolution." 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


103 


While  these  negotiations  were  carrying  on  in  Saxony,  for- 
tune seemed  to  put  Augustus  in  a  condition  to  obtain  more 
honourable  terms,  and  to  treat  with  his  conqueror  on  a  more 
1    equal  footing. 

Prince  Menzikoff,  generalissimo  of  the  Muscovites,  enterj 
ed  Poland  with  a  body  of  thirty  thousand  men,  at  a  time 
when  Augustus  not  only  did  not  desire  their  assistance,  but 
even  dreaded  it.  He  had  only  with  him  some  Polish  and 
Saxon  troops,  making  in  all  about  six  thousand  men.  With 
so  small  a  body  of  troops,  surrounded  by  the  army  of  Prince 
Menzikoff,  he  had  every  thing  to  fear  in  case  the  negotiation 
should  be  discovered.  He  saw  himself  at  once  dethroned 
by  his  enemy,  and  in  danger  of  being  taken  prisoner  by  his 
ally.  In  this  delicate  crisis,  one  of  the  Swedish  generals, 
named  Meyerneld,  at  the  head  of  ten  thousand  men,  appear- 
ed at  Calish,  near  the  palatinate  of  Posnania.  Prince  Men- 
zikolf  pressed  Augustus  to  give  them  battle ;  who,  being 
greatly  embarrassed,  delayed  the  engagement  under  various 
pretexts  ;  for,  though  the  enemy  had  but  one  third  of  his 
number,  there  were  four  thousand  Swedes  in  Meyerfield's 
army,  and  that  alone  was  sufficient  to  render  the  event  doubt- 
ful. To  attack  the  Swedes  during  the  negotiations,  and  to 
lose  the  battle,  was,  in  effect,  to  deepen  the  abyss  in  which 
he  was  already  plunged.  He  resolved,  therefore,  to  send  a 
trusty  servant  to  the  general  of  the  enemy,  in  order  to  give 
him  some  distant  hints  of  the  peace,  and  advise  him  to  re- 
treat. But  this  advice  produced  an  effect  contrary  to  what 
he  expected.  General  Meyerfleld  thought  they  were  laying 
a  snare  to  intimidate  him ;  and  for  that  reason  resolved  to 
hazard  the  battle. 

The  Russians  now,  for  the  first  time,  conquered  the  Swedes 
in  a  pitched  battle.  This  victory,  which  Augustus  gained 
almost  against  his  will,  was  entire  and  complete.  In  the 
midst  of  his  bad  fortune,  he  entered  triumphant  into  War- 
saw, formerly  his  flourishing  capital,  but  then  a  dismantled 
and  ruined  town,  ready  to  receive  any  conqueror,  and  to  ac- 
knowledge the  strongest  for  king.    He  was  tempted  to  seize 


104 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


upon  this  moment  of  prosperity  to  go  with  the  Muscovite 
army  to  attack  the  king  of  Sweden  in  Saxony.  But  when 
he  reflected  that  Charles  XII.  was  at  the  head  of  an  army 
hitherto  invincible ;  that  the  Russians  would  abandon  him 
on  the  first  intelligence  of  the  treaty  he  had  begun  ;  that  his 
Saxon  dominions,  already  drained  of  men  and  money,  would 
be  equally  ravaged  by  the  Swedes  and  Muscovites  ;  that  the 
empire,  engaged  in  a  war  with  France,  could  afford  him  no 
assistance;  and  that,  in  the  end,  he  should  be  left  without 
dominions,  money,  or  friends  ;  he  thought  it  most  advisable 
to  comply  with  the  terms  the  king  of  Sweden  should  im- 
pose. These  became  still  more  severe,  when  Charles  heard 
that  Augustus  had  attacked  his  troops  during  the  negotiation. 
His  resentment,  and  the  pleasure  of  farther  humbling  an 
enemy  who  had  just  vanquished  his  forces,  made  him  inflexi- 
ble upon  all  the  articles  of  the  treaty.  Thus  the  victory  of  Au- 
gustus served  only  to  render  his  situation  the  more  misera- 
ble ;  a  circumstance  which  perhaps  never  happened  to  any 
one  but  himself. 

He  had  just  caused  Te  Deum  to  be  sung  at  Warsaw,  when 
Fingstein,  one  of  his  plenipotentiaries,  arrived  from  Saxony 
with  the  treaty  of  peace,  which  deprived  him  of  his  crown. 
Augustus  hesitated  for  a  while,  but  at  length  signed  it;  and 
set  out  for  Saxony,  vainly  hoping  that  his  presence  would 
soften  the  king  of  Sweden,  and  that  his  enemy  perhaps 
would  remember  the  ancient  alliance  of  their  families,  and 
the  affinity  of  blood  that  ran  in  their  veins. 

These  two  princes  met  for  the  first  time  without  ceremo- 
ny, in  Count  Piper's  tent,  at  a  place  called  Gutersdorff. 
Charles  was  as  usual  in  his  jack-boots,  with  a  piece  of  black 
taffety  tied  round  his  neck,  instead  of  a  cravat ;  his  clothes 
of  coarse  blue  cloth,  with  gilt  brass  buttons.  He  had  along 
sword  by  his  side,  which  had  served  him  in  the  battle  of 
Narva,  and  on  the  pommel  of  which  he  frequently  leaned. 
The  conversation  turned  wholly  upon  these  jack-boots ; 
Charles  telling  Augustus  that  he  had  not  laid  them  aside  for 
six  years,  except  when  he  went  to  bed,    These  trifles  were 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


105 


the  only  subject  of  discourse  between  two  kings,  one  of 
whom  had  just  deprived  the  other  of  his  crown ;  Augustus, 
especially,  spoke  with  an  air  of  complaisance  and  satisfac- 
tion, which  princes  and  men  accustomed  to  the  management 
of  great  affairs,  know  how  to  assume  amidst  the  most  cruel 
mortifications.  The  two  kings  dined  together  twice.  Charles 
always  affected  to  give  Augustus  the  right  hand ;  but  far 
from  mitigating  the  rigour  of  his  demands,  he  rendered  them 
still  more  severe.  It  was,  doubtless,  a  very  mortifying  thing 
for  a  sovereign  to  be  forced  to  deliver  up  a  general  officer 
and  a  public  minister.  It  was  still  a  greater  debasement  to 
be  obliged  to  send  the  jewels  and  archives  of  the  crown  to 
his  successor  Stanislaus.  But  what  completed  his  degrada- 
tion was,  his  being  at  last  compelled  to  congratulate,  on  his 
accession  to  the  throne,  the  man  who  was  going  to  usurp  his 
place.  Charles  required  Augustus  to  write  a  letter  to  Stanis- 
laus. The  dethroned  king  endeavoured  to  evade  the  de- 
mand, but  Charles  insisted  upon  his  writing  the  letter,  and 
he  was  obliged  to  comply.  Here  follows  an  exact  transcript 
of  it,  which  I  have  seen.  It  is  copied  from  the  original, 
which  is  still  in  the  possession  of  King  Stanislaus. 

"  SIR  AND  BROTHER, 

"  We  little  imagined  it  would  have  been  necessary  to  en- 
ter into  a  literary  correspondence  with  your  majesty  ;  never- 
theless, in  order  to  please  his  majesty  of  Sweden,  and  to 
avoid  the  suspicion  of  our  being  unwilling  to  gratify  his  de- 
sire, we  hereby  congratulate  you  on  your  accession  to  the 
throne,  and  wish  you  may  find  in  your  native  country  more 
faithful  subjects  than  we  have  left  there.  All  the  world  will 
do  us  the.  justice  to  believe,  that  we  have  received  nothing 
but  the  most  ungrateful  returns  for  our  good  offices,  and  that 
the  greater  part  of  our  subjects  seemed  to  have  no  other 
aim  than  to  hasten  our  ruin.  Wishing  that  you  may  never 
be  exposed  to  the  like  misfortunes,  we  commit  you  to  the 
protection  of  God. 

"  Your  brother  and  neighbour, 
Dresden,  April  8,  1707  "  AUGUSTUS,  king." 


106  HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII 

Augustus  was  obliged  to  give  orders  to  all  his  magistrat 
no  longer  to  style  him  king  of  Poland,  and  to  erase  this  title 
which  he  now  renounced,  from  the  public  prayers.   He  w 
less  averse  to  the  release  of  the  Sobieskies.   These  princes 
upon  quitting  their  prison  refused  to  see  him.  But  the  sacri 
fice  of  Patkul  was  the  severest  of  all.    The  czar  of  Mu 
covy,  on  the  one  hand,  loudly  demanded  him  back  as  his 
ambassador ;  and  on  the  other,  the  king  of  Sweden,  with  the 
most  terrible  menaces  in  case  of  refusal,  insisted  that  he 
should  be  delivered  up  to  him.    Patkul  was  then  confined 
in  the  castle  of  Konigstein,  in  Saxony.    Augustus  thought 
he  might  easily  gratify  Charles  XII.,  and  save  his  own 
honour.    He  sent  his  guards  to  deliver  this  unhappy  man  to 
the  Swedish  troops;  but  he  previously  despatched  a  secret 
order  to  the  governor  of  Konigstein,  to  let  his  prisoner 
escape.    The  bad  fortune  of  Patkul  defeated  the  pains  that 
were  taken  to  save  him.    The  governor,  knowing  that  Pat- 
kul was  very  rich,  had  a  mind  to  make  him  purchase  his 
liberty.    The  prisoner,  still  relying  on  the  law  of  nations, 
and  informed  of  the  intentions  of  Augustus,  refused  to  pay 
for  that  which  he  thought  he  had  a  title  to  obtain  for  nothing. 
The  guards  who  were  commissioned  to  seize  the  prisoner 
arrived  during  this  interval,  and  immediately  delivered  him 
to  four  Swedish  captains,  who  carried  him  forthwith  to  the 
general  quarters  at  Altranstad,  where  he  remained  three 
months  fastened  to  a  stake  with  a  heavy  iron  chain ;  from 
whence  he  was  conducted  to  Casimir. 

Charles,  forgetting  that  Patkul  was  the  czar's  ambassador, 
and  considering  him  only  as  his  own  subject,  ordered  a  coun- 
cil of  war  to  try  him  with  the  utmost  rigour.  He  was  con- 
demned to  be  broken  alive  on  the  wheel,  and  then  quartered. 
A  chaplain  came  to  inform  him  of  the  fatal  sentence,  with- 
out acquainting  him  with  the  manner  in  which 'it  was  to  be 
executed.  Patkul,  who  had  braved  death  in  so  many  battles, 
finding  himself  alone  with  a  priest,  and  his  courage  being 
no  longer  supported  by  pride  or  passion,  the  sources  of  hu- 
man intrepidity,  poured  a  flood  of  tears  into  the  chaplain's 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


107 


bosom.  He  was  betrothed  to  a  Saxon  lady,  called  Madam 
d'Enfiedel,  a  woman  of  birth,  of  merit,  and  of  beauty,  and 
whom  he  expected  to  have  married  about  the  time  that  he 
found  himself  condemned  to  die.  He  entreated  the  chap- 
lain to  wait  upon  her,  to  give  her  all  the  consolation  in  his 
power,  and  to  assure  her  that  he  died  full  of  the  most  ten- 
der affection  for  his  incomparable  mistress.  When  he  was 
brought  to  the  place  of  punishment,  and  beheld  the  wheel 
and  stakes  prepared  for  his  execution,  he  fell  into  convul- 
sions, and  threw  himself  into  the  arms  of  the  minister,  who 
embraced  him,  covered  him  with  his  cloak,  and  wept  over 
him.  A  Swedish  officer  then  read  aloud  a  paper  to  the  fol- 
lowing effect : 

"  This  is  to  declare,  that  it  is  the  express  order  of  his  ma- 
jesty, our  most  merciful  lord,  that  this  man,  who  is  a  traitor 
to  his  country,  be  broke  upon  the  wheel,  and  quartered,  in 
order  to  atone  for  his  crimes,  and  to  be  an  example  to  others ; 
that  every  one  may  beware  of  treason,  and  faithfully  serve 
his  king."  At  the  words  "  our  most  merciful  lord,"  Patkul 
cried  out,  "  What  mercy  ?"  and  at  those  of  "  traitor  to  his 
country" — "  Alas  !  (said  he)  I  have  served  it  but  too  well." 
He  received  sixteen  blows,  and  suffered  the  most  excrucia- 
ting tortures  that  can  be  imagined.  Thus  died  the  unfortu- 
nate John  Reinold  Patkul,  ambassador  and  general  of  the 
emperor  of  Russia. 

Those  who  looked  upon  him  only  as  a  rebel,  said  that  he 
deserved  death  ;  but  those  who  considered  him  as  a  Livo- 
nian,  born  in  a  province  that  had  privileges  to  defend,  and 
remembered  that  he  had  been  banished  from  Livonia  for  no 
other  reason  than  his  having  defended  those  privileges, 
called  him  a  martyr  to  the  liberty  of  his  country.  It  was  on 
all  hands  agreed,  however,  that  the  title  of  ambassador  to 
the  czar  ought  to  have  rendered  his  person  sacred.  The  king 
of  Sweden  alone,  educated  in  the  principles  of  arbitrary 
power,  thought  that  he  had  only  performed  an  act  of  justice, 
whilst  all  Europe  condemned  his  cruelty. 

The  mangled  limbs  of  the  sufferer  remained  exposed  upcm 


108 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


gibbets  till  1713,  when  Augustus  having  regained  his  throne, 
caused  these  testimonies  of  the  necessity  to  which  he  had 
been  reduced  at  Altranstad  to  be  gathered  together.  They 
were  brought  to  Warsaw  in  a  box,  and  delivered  to  him  in 
presence  of  the  French  envoy.  The  king  of  Poland,  show- 
ing the  box  to  this  minister,  only  said,  "  These  are  the  limbs 
of  Patkul without  adding  any  thing  either  to  blame  his  con- 
duct or  to  bewail  his  memory,  and  without  any  one  daring 
to  speak  on  so  delicate  and  mournful  a  subject. 

About  this  time,  a  Livonian  named  Paikel,  an  officer  in 
the  Saxon  troops,  who  had  been  taken  prisoner  in  the  field, 
was  condemned  at  Stockholm,  by  a  decree  of  the  senate ; 
but  his  sentence  was  only  to  lose  his  head.  This  difference 
of  punishments  in  the  same  case,  made  it  but  too  plain  that 
Charles,  in  putting  Patkul  to  such  a  cruel  death,  was  more 
anxious  to  avenge  himself  than  to  punish  the  criminal.  Be 
that  as  it  may,  Paikel,  after  his  condemnation,  proposed  to 
the  senate  to  impart  to  the  king  the  secret  of  making  gold, 
on  condition  that  he  should  obtain  his  pardon.  He  made 
the  experiment  in  prison,  in  presence  of  Colonel  Hamilton 
and  the  magistrates  of  the  town ;  and  whether  he  had  ac- 
tually discovered  some  useful  secret,  or  which  is  more  pro- 
bable, had  only  acquired  the  art  of  deceiving  with  ability, 
they  carried  the  gold  which  was  found  in  the  crucible  to  the 
mint  at  Stockholm,  and  gave  the  senate  such  a  full,  and 
seemingly  such  an  important  account  of  the  matter,  that  the 
queen-dowager,  Charles's  grandmother,  ordered  his  execu- 
tion to  be  suspended  till  the  king  should  be  informed  of  this 
uncommon  affair,  and  send  his  orders  accordingly. 

The  king  made  answer,  "That  as  he  had  refused  the  par- 
don of  the  criminal  to  the  entreaties  of  his  friends,  he  wTould 
never  grant  to  interest  what  he  had  denied  to  friendship." 
This  inflexibility  had  something  in  it  very  heroical  in  a 
prince,  especially  as  he  thought  the  secret  practicable.  Au- 
gustus, upon  hearing  this  story,  said,  "  I  am  not  surprised 
at  the  king  of  Sweden's  indifference  about  the  philosopher's 
■tone:  he  has  found  it  in  Saxony." 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


109 


When  the  czar  was  informed  of  the  strange  peace  which 
Augustus  had,  notwithstanding  their  former  treaties,  con- 
cluded at  Altranstad  ;  and  that  Patkul,  his  amhassador  ple- 
nipotentiary, was  delivered  up  to  the  king  of  Sweden,  in 
contempt  of  the  laws  of  nations ;  he  loudly  complained  of 
these  indignities  to  the  several  courts  of  Europe.  He  wrote 
to  the  emperor  of  Germany,  to  the  queen  of  England,  and  to 
the  states  general  of  the  United  Provinces.  He  gave  the 
terms  of  cowardice  and  treachery  to  the  sad  necessity  to 
which  Augustus  had  been  obliged  to  submit.  He  conjured 
all  these  powers  to  interpose  their  mediation  to  procure  the 
restoration  of  his  ambassador,  and  to  prevent  the  affront 
which,  in  his  person,  was  going  to  be  offered  to  crowned 
heads.  He  pressed  them,  by  the  motives  of  honour,  not  to 
debase  themselves  so  far  as  to  become  guarantees  of  the  treaty 
of  Altranstad ;  a  concession  which  Charles  XII.  meant  to 
extort  from  them  by  his  threatening  and  imperious  behaviour. 
These  letters  had  no  other  effect  than  to  set  the  power  of 
the  king  of  Sweden  in  a  stronger  light.  The  emperor,  En- 
gland, and  Holland,  were  then  engaged  in  a  ruinous  war 
with  France,  and  judged  it  a  very  unreasonable  juncture  to 
exasperate  Charles  XII.  by  refusing  the  vain  ceremony  of 
being  guarantees  to  a  treaty.  With  regard  to  the  unhappy 
Patkul,  there  was  not  a  single  power  which  interposed  its 
good  offices  in  his  behalf;  from  whence  it  appears  what  lit- 
tle confidence  a  subject  ought  to  put  in  princes,  and  how 
much  all  the  monarchs  in  Europe  at  that  time  stood  in  awe 
of  the  king  of  Sweden. 

It  was  proposed  in  the  council  of  the  czar,  to  retaliate  this 
cruelty  on  the  Swedish  officers  who  were  prisoners  at  Mos- 
cow ;  but  the  czar  would  not  consent  to  a  barbarity  which 
would  have  been  attended  with  fatal  consequences,  as  there 
were  more  Muscovites  prisoners  in  Sweden,  than  Swedes 
in  Muscovy. 

He  studied  a  more  advantageous  revenge.  The  main  body 
of  his  enemy's  army  lay  inactive  in  Saxony.  Lewenhaupt, 
general  of  the  king  of  Sweden,  who  was  left  in  Poland  with 

10 


110  HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 

about  twenty  thousand  men,  was  not  able  to  guard  the  passes 
into  a  country  without  forts  and*  full  of  factions.  Stanislaus 
was  in  the  camp  of  Charles.  Ithe  emperor  of  Muscovy  sei- 
zed this  opportunity,  and  re-entered  Poland  with  above 
60,000  men.  These  he  divides  into  several  bodies,  and 
marches  with  a  flying  camp  to  Leopold,  where  there  was  no 
Swedish  garrison.  All  the  towns  of  Poland  yield  to  any  one 
who  appears  before  their  gates  at  the  head  of  an  army.  He 
caused  an  assembly  to  be  convoked  at  Leopold,  of  much  the 
same  nature  with  that  which  had  dethroned  Augustus  at 
Warsaw. 

Poland  had  at  that  time  two  primates,  as  well  as  two 
kings;  the  one  nominated  by  Augustus,  the  other  by  Stanis- 
laus. The  primate  nominated  by  .\ugustus,  summoned  the 
assembly  of  Leopold,  to  which  they,  whom  that  prince  had 
abandoned  by  the  peace  of  Altraustad,  and  such  as  were 
brought  over  by  the  money  of  the  czar,  immediately  repair- 
ed. Here  it  was  proposed  to  elect  a  new  sovereign :  so  that 
Poland  was  upon  tlie  point  of  having  three  kings  at  once,  with- 
out being  able  to  say  which  was  the  real  one. 

During  the  conferences  at  Leopold,  the  czar,  whose  inte- 
rest was  closely  connected  with  that  of  the  emperor  of  Ger- 
many, on  account  of  the  common  dread  which  they  enter- 
tained of  the  power  of  the  king  of  Sweden,  secretly  obtain- 
ed from  him  a  number  of  German  officers,  who  daily  arriving, 
increased  his  strength  in  a  considerable  degree,  by  bringing 
with  them  discipline  and  experience.  These  he  engaged  in 
his  service  by  several  instances  of  liberality ;  and  the  more 
to  encourage  his  own  troops,  he  gave  his  picture,  set  with 
diamonds,  to  all  the  general  officers  and  colonels  who  had 
fought  at  the  battle  of  Calish:  the  subaltern  officers  had  me- 
dals of  gold,  and  every  private  soldier  a  medal  of  silver. 
These  monuments  of  the  victory  of  Calish  were  all  struck  in 
the  new  city  of  Petersburgh;  where  the  improvement  of  the 
arts  kept  pace  with  the  desire  of  glory,  and  spirit  of  emula- 
tion, which  the  czar  had  instilled  into  his  troops. 

The  confusion,  the  multiplicity  of  factions,  and  the  cod- 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


Ill 


tinual  ravages  prevailing  in  Poland,  hindered  the  diet  of 
Leopold  from  coming  to  any  resolution.  The  czar  therefore 
transferred  it  to  Lublin.  But  the  change  of  place  did  not 
lessen  the  disorder  and  perplexity  in  which  the  whole  na- 
tion was  involved.  The  assembly  contented  itself  with  nei- 
ther acknowledging  Augustus,  who  had  abdicated  the  throne, 
nor  Stanislaus,  who  had  been  elected  against  their  will  :  but 
they  were  neither  sufficiently  united,  nor  had  resolution 
enough  to  nominate  another  king.  Durmg  these  fruitless 
deliberations,  the  party  of  the  Princess  Sapieha,  that  of  Ogin- 
sky,  those  who  secretly  adhered  to  Augustus,  and  the  new 
subjects  of  Stanislaus,  all  made  war  upon  one  another,  plun- 
dered each  other's  estates,  and  completed  the  ruin  of  their 
country.  The  Swedish  troops  commanded  by  Lewenhaupt, 
one  part  of  which  lay  in  Livonia,  another  in  Lithuania,  and 
a  third  in  Poland,  were  daily  in  pursuit  of  the  Russians,  and 
set  lire  to  every  thing  that  opposed  Stanislaus.  The  Rus- 
sians ruined  their  friends  and  foes  without  distinction ;  no* 
thing  was  to  be  seen  but  towns  reduced  to  ashes,  and  wan- 
dering troops  of  Poles,  deprived  of  all  their  substance,  and 
detesting  alike  their  two  kings,  Charles  XII.,  and  the  czar  of 
Muscovy. 

In  order  to  quiet  these  commotions,  and  to  secure  the 
peaceable  possession  of  the  throne,  Stanislaus  set  out  from 
Alt.ranstad  on  the  fifteenth  of  July,  170  7,  accompanied  by 
General  Renschild,  with  sixteen  Swedish  regiments,  and 
furnished  with  a  large  sum  of  money.  He  was  acknow- 
ledged wherever  he  came.  The  discipline  of  his  troops, 
which  made  the  barbarity  of  the  Muscovites  to  be  more  sen- 
sibly felt,  conciliated  the  affections  of  the  people.  His  ex- 
treme affability,  in  proportion  as  it  was  better  known,  recon- 
ciled to  him  almost  all  the 'different  factions;  and- his  money 
procured  him  the  greatest  part  of  the  army  of  the  crown.  The 
czar,  apprehensive  of  wanting  provisions  in  a  country  which 
his  troops  had  laid  waste,  retired  into  Lithuania,  whew  he  had 
fixed  the"  general  rendezvous  of  his  arm;/,  and  where  he  re- 
solved to  establish  magazines.  This  retreat  left  Stanislaus 
the  undisturbed  sovereign  of  almost  all  Poland. 


U2 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XH. 


The  only  person  who  gave  him  any  uneasiness,  was  Count 
Siniausky,  grand  general  of  the  crown,  by  the  nomination  of 
Augustus.  This  man,  who  was  possessed  of  no  contempti- 
ble talents,  and  entertained  the  most  ambitious  views,  was 
at  the  head  of  a  third  party.  He  neither  acknowledged  Au- 
gustus nor  Stanislaus  ;  and,  after  having  used  his  utmost  ef- 
forts in  order  to  procure  his  own  election,  contented  himself 
with  being  the  head  of  a  third  party,  since  he  could  not  be 
king.  The  troops  o:  the  crown,  which  continued  under  his  com- 
mand, had  no  other  pay  but  the  liberty  of  pillaging  their  own 
country  with  impunity ;  and  all  those  who  had  either  suf- 
fered, or  were  apprehensive  of  suffering,  from  the  rapacity  of 
these  freebooters,  soon  submitted  to  Stanislaus,  whose  power 
was  gathering  strength  every  day. 

The  king  of  Sweden  was  then  in  his  camp  at  Altranstad, 
receiving  ambassadors  from  almost  all  the  princes  in  Chris- 
tendom ;  some  intreating  him  to  quit  the  empire,  others  de- 
siring him  to  turn  his  arms  against  the  emperor;  and  it  was 
then  the  general  report,  that  he  intended  to  join  with  France 
in  humbling  the  house  of  Austria.  Among  these  ambassa- 
dors came  the  famous  John,  duke  of  Marlborough,  on  the 
part  of  Anne,  queen  of  Great  Britain.  This  man,  who 
never  besieged  a  town  which  he  did  not  take,  nor  fought  a 
battle  which  he  did  not  gain,  was  at  St.  James's  a  per- 
fect courtier,  in  parliament  the  head  of  a  party,  and  in 
foreign  countries  the  most  able  negotiator  of  his  time. 
He  has  done  France  as  much  mischief  by  his  politics,  as 
by  his  arms.  Mr.  Fagel,  secretary  of  the  states  general,  a 
man  of  the  greatest  merit,  has  been  heard  to  say,  that  when 
the  states  general  had  more  than  once  resolved  to  oppose  the 
schemes  which  the  duke  was  about  to  lay  before  them,  the 
duke  came,  spoke  to  them  in  French,  a  language  in  which 
he  expressed  himself  but  very  indifferently,  and  yet  he 
brought  them  all  over  to  his  opinion.  Of  the  truth  of  this 
story  Lord  Bolingbroke  assured  me. 

In  conjunction  with  Prince  Eugene,  the  companion  of  his 
victories,  and  Heinsius,  the  grand  pensionary  of  Holland,  he 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


113 


supported  the  whole  weight  of  the  war  which  the  allies  car- 
ried on  against  Fiance.  He  knew  that  Charles  was  incensed 
against  the  empire  and  the  emperor;  that  he  was  secretly 
solicited  by  the  French ;  and  that  if  this  conqueror  should 
espouse  the  cause  of  Louis  XIV.,  the  allies  must  be  entirely 
ruined. 

Charles,  indeed,  had  given  his  word  in  1700,  that  he  would 
not  intermeddle  in  the  quarrel  between  Louis  XIV.  and  the 
allies ;  but  the  duke  of  Marlborough  could  not  believe  that 
any  prince  wduld  be  so  great  a  slave  to  his  word,  as  not  to 
sacrifice  it  to  his  grandeur  and  interest.  He,  therefore, 
set  out  from  the  Hague,  with  a  resolution  to  sound  the  in- 
tentions of  the  king  of  Sweden.  M.  FabricitfS,  who  then 
attended  Charles  XI L,  assured  me,  that  the  duke  of  Marl- 
borough, on  his  arrival,  applied  secretly,  not  to  CountPiper, 
the  prime  minister,  but  to  Baron  de  Gortz,  who  now  began 
to  share  with  Piper  the  conlidence  of  the  king.  He  even 
went  to  the  quarters  of  Charles  XII.  in  the  coach  of  this 
nobleman,  where  there  passed  some  marks  of  coldness 
between  the  duke  and  Chancellor  Piper ;  by  whom,  how- 
ever, being  afterwards  presented,  together  with  Robinson, 
the  English  minister,  he  spoke  to  the  king  in  French.  He 
told  him,  "  that  he  should  esteem  it  a  singular  happiness,  to 
have  an  opportunity  of  learning,  under  his  command,  such 
parts  of  the  art  of  war  as  he  did  not  yet  understand."  To 
this  polite  compliment  the  king  made  no  return,  and  seemed 
to  forget  that  it  was  Marlborough  who  was  speaking  to  him. 
He  even  thought,  as  I  have  been  told,  that  the  dress  of  this 
great  man  was  too  much  studied,  and  that  it  had  too  little 
the  air  of  a  soldier.  The  conversation  was  tedious  and  em- 
barrassing, Charles  XII.  speaking  in  the  Swedish  tongue, 
and  Robinson  serving  as  an  interpreter.  Marlborough,  who 
was  never  in  haste  to  make  proposals,  and  who,  by  a  long 
course  of  experience,  had  learned  the  art  of  diving  into  the 
real  characters  of  men,  and  discovering  the  connection  be- 
tween their  most  secret  thoughts  and  their  actions,  gestures, 
tnd  discourse,  regarded  the  king  with  the  utmost  attentions 

10* 


114 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


When  he  spoke  to  him  of  war  in  general,  he  thought  he  per- 
ceived in  his  majesty  a  natural  aversion  to  France ;  and  re- 
marked that  he  talked  with  pleasure  of  the  conquests  of  the 
allies.  He  mentioned  the  czar  to  him,  and  observed  that  his 
eyes  always  kindled  at  the  name,  notwithstanding  the  calm- 
ness of  the  conversation.  He  remarked,  besides,  a  map  of 
Muscovy  lying  before  him  upon  the  table.  He  wanted  no 
more  to  convince  him  that  the  real  design  and  sole  ambition 
of  the  king  of  Sweden  was  to  dethrone  the  czar,  as  he  had 
done  the  king  of  Poland.  He  was  sensible,  that  if  Charles 
remained  in  Saxony,  it  was  only  to  impose  some  hard  con- 
ditions on  the  emperor  of  Germany.  He  knew  the  emperor 
could  make  no  resistance,  and  that  thus  all  disputes  would 
be  easily  accommodated.  He  left  Charles,  therefore,  to  fol- 
low the  bent  of  his  own  mind ;  and,  satisfied  with  having 
discovered  his  intentions,  made  him  no  proposals.  These 
particulars  I  had  from  the  duchess  of  Marlborough,  his  widow. 

As  few  negotiations  are  finished  without  money,  and  as 
ministers  are  sometimes  known  to  sell  the  hatred  or  favour 
of  their  masters,  it  was  the  general  opinion  throughout 
Europe,  that  the  duke  of  Marlborough  would  not  have  suc- 
ceeded so  well  with  the  king  of  Sweden,  had  he  not  made  a 
handsome  present  to  Count  Piper,  whose  memory  still  la- 
bours under  the  imputation.  For  my  own  part,  after  having 
traced  this  report  to  its  source,  with  all  the  care  and  accu- 
racy of  which  I  am  master,  I  found  that  Piper  received  a 
small  present  from  the  emperor,  by  the  hands  of  the  Count 
de  Wratissau,  with  the  consent  of  his  master,  but  nothing 
from  the  duke  of  Marlborough.  Certain  it  is,  Charles  was 
so  firmly  resolved  to  dethrone  the  emperor  of  Russia,  that 
he  asked  nobody's  advice  on  that  subject,  nor  wanted  the  in- 
stigation of  Count  Piper  to  prompt  him  to  wreak  his  long 
meditated  vengeance  on  the  head  of  Peter  Alexiowitz. 

But  what  fully  justifies  the  character  of  that  minister,  was 
the  honour  which,  long  after  this  period,  was  paid  to  his 
memory  by  Charles  XII.,  who,  having  heard  that  Piper  was 
dead  in  Russia,  caused  his  body  to  be  transported  to  Stock- 
holm, and  gave  him  a  magnificent  funeral  at  his  own  expense. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN.  115 

The  king,  who  had  not  as  yet  experienced  any  reverse  of 
fortune,  nor  even  met  with  any  interruption  in  his  victories, 
thought  one  year  would  be  sufficient  for  dethroning  the  czar  ; 
after  which,  he  imagined  he  might  return,  and  set  himself 
up  as  the  arbiter  of  Europe.  But,  first  of  all,  he  resolved  to 
humble  the  emperor  of  Germany- 
Baron  de  Stralenheim,  the  Swedish  envoy  at  Vienna,  had 
quarrelled  at  a  public  entertainment  with  the  Count  de  Zo- 
bor,  chamberlain  of  the  emperor.  The  latter  having  refused 
to  drink  the  health  of  Charles  XII.,  and  having  declared 
that  that  prince  had  used  his  master  very  ill,  Stralenheim 
gave  him  at  once  the  lie  and  a  box  on  the  ear,  and  besides 
this  insult,  boldly  demanded  a  reparation  from  the  imperial 
court.  The  fear  of  displeasing  the  king  of  Sweden  obliged 
the  emperor  to  banish  his  subject,  whom  he  ought  rather  to 
have  avenged.  Charles  was  not  satisfied  with  this  conde- 
scension, but  insisted  that  Count  Zobor  should  be  delivered 
up  to  him.  The  pride  of  the  court  of  Vienna  was  for- 
ced to  stoop.  The  count  was  put  into  the  hands  of  the  king, 
who  sent  him  back,  after  having  detained  him  some  time  a 
prisoner  at  Stettin.  He  likewise  further  demanded,  contrary 
to  the  law  of  nations,  that  they  should  deliver  up  to  him  fifteen 
hundred  unhappy  Muscovites,  who  having  escaped  the  fury 
of  his  arms,  had  fled  into  the  imperial  territories.  The  emperor 
was  obliged  to  yield  even  to  this  strange  demand  ;  and,  had  not 
theRussian  envoy  at  Vienna  dexterously  given  these  unhappy 
wretches  an  opportunity  of  escaping  by  different  roads,  they 
must  have  been  delivered  into  the  hands  of  their  enemies. 

The  third  and  last  of  his  demands  was  the  most  extraor- 
dinary. He  declared  himself  the  protector  of  the  emperor's 
protestant  subjects  in  Silesia,  a  province  belonging  to  the 
house  of  Austria,  not  to  the  empire.  He  insisted  that  the 
emperor  should  grant  them  the  liberties  and  privileges  which 
had  been  established  by  the  treaties  of  Westphalia,  but  which 
were  extinguished,  or  at  least  eluded,  by  those  of  Ryswick. 
The  emperor,  who  wanted  only  to  get  rid  of  such  a  danger 
ous  neighbour,  yielded  once  more,  and  granted  all  he  desi- 


116  HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 

red.  The  Lutherans  of  Silesia  had  above  a  hundred  churches, 
which  the  catholics  were  obliged  to  cede  to  them  by  this 
treaty  :  but  of  many  of  these  advantages  which  were  now 
procured  them  by  the  king  of  Sweden's  good  fortune,  they 
were  afterwards  deprived,  when  that  prince  was  no  longerin 
condition  to  impose  laws. 

The  emperor  who  made  these  forced  concessions,  and  com- 
plied in  every  thing  with  the  will  of  Charles  XII.,  was  Jo- 
seph, the  eldest  son  of  Leopold,  and  brother  to  Charles  VI., 
who  since  succeeded  him.  The  pope's  inter-nuncio,  who 
then  resided  at  the  court  of  Joseph,  reproached  him  in  very 
severe  terms,  alleging  that  it  was  a  most  shameful  conde- 
scension for  a  catholic  emperor  like  him,  to  sacrifice  the  in- 
terest of  his  own  religion  to  that  of  heretics.  "  You  may 
think  yourself  very  happy,"  replied  the  emperor,  with  a  smile, 
"  that  the  king  of  Sweden  did  not  propose  to  make  me  be- 
come a  Lutheran ;  for  if  he  had,  I  do  not  know  what  I  should 
have  done." 

The  Count  de  Wratissau,  his  ambassador  with  Charles 
XII.,  brought  to  Leipsick  the  treaty  in  favour  of  the  Sile- 
sians,  signed  with  his  master's  hand  ;  upon  which  Charles 
said,  he  was  the  emperor's  best  friend.  He  was  far  from 
being  pleased,  however,  that  the  court  of  Rome  should  have 
employed  all  its  arts  and  intrigues  in  order  to  traverse  his 
scheme.  He  looked  with  the  utmost  contempt  upon  the 
weakness  of  that  court ;  which,  having  one  half  of  Europe 
for  its  irreconcilable  enemy,  and  placing  no  confidence  in 
the  other,  can  only  support  its  credit  by  the  finesse  of  its  ne- 
gotiations ;  and  yet  he  resolved  to  be  revenged  on  his  holi- 
ness. He  told  the  Count  de  Wratissau,  that  "  the  Swedes 
had  formerly  subdued  Rome,  and  had  not  degenerated  like 
her."  He  sent  the  pope  word,  "that  he  would  one  day  re- 
demand  the  effects  which  Queen  Christiana  had  left  at 
Rome ;"  and  it  is  hard  to  say  how  far  this  young  conqueror 
would  have  carried  his  resentment  and  his  arms,  had  fortune 
favoured  his  designs.  At  that  time  nothing  appeared  impos- 
sible to  him.    He  had  even  sent  several  officers  privatelj 


KING  OF  SWEDEN.  1J7 

into  Asia  and  Egypt,  to  take  plans  of  the  towns,  and  to  ex- 
amine into  the  strength  of  these  countries.  Certain  it  is, 
that  if  any  one  had  been  able  to  overturn  the  empire  of  the 
Turks'  and  Persians,  and  afterwards  to  pass  into  Italy,  it  had 
been  Charles  XII.  He  was  as  young  as  Alexander,  as  brave, 
as  enterprising,  more  indefatigable,  more  robust,  and  more 
virtuous ;  the  Swedes  also  were  perhaps  better  soldiers  than 
the  Macedonians.  But  such  projects,  which  are  called  di- 
vine when  they  succeed,  are  regarded  only  as  chimerical 
when  they  fail  of  success. 

At  length,  having  removed  every  difficulty,  and  accom- 
plished all  his  designs  :  having  humbled  the  emperor,  given 
laws  in  the  empire,  protected  the  Lutheran  religion  in  the 
midst  of  the  catholics,  dethroned  one  king,  and  crowned 
another,  and  rendered  himself  the  terror  of  all  the  princes 
around  him,  he  began  to  prepare  for  his  departure.  The 
pleasures  of  Saxony,  where  he  had  remained  inactive  for  a 
whole  year,  had  not  made  the  least  alteration  in  his  manner 
of  living.  He  rode  out  thrice  a-day,  rose  at  four  in  the 
morning,  dressed  himself  with'  his  own  hands,  drank  no 
wine,  sat  at  table  only  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  exercised  his 
troops  every  day,  and  knew  no  other  pleasure  but  that  of 
making  Europe  tremble. 

The  Swedes  were  still  ignorant  whither  their  king  in- 
tended to  lead  them.  They  had  only  a  suspicion  that  he 
meant  to  go  to  Moscow.  A  few  days  before  his  departure, 
he  ordered  the  quarter-master-general  to  give  him  in  writing 
the  route  from  Leipsick.  At  that  word  he  paused  a  moment : 
and,  lest  the  quarter-master  should  discover  his  project,  he 
added  with  a  smile — to  all  the  capital  cities  of  Europe.  The 
quarter-master  brought  him  a  list  of  all  these  routes,  at  the 
head  of  which  he  placed,  in  great  letters,  "  The  route  from 
Leipsick  to  Stockholm."  The  generality  of  Swedes  were 
extremely  desirous  of  returning  home  ;  but  the  king  was  far 
from  intending  to  lead  them  back  to  their  native  country. 
"  Mr.  Quarter-Master,"  says  he,  "  I  plainly  see  whither  you 
would  lead  me ;  but  we  shall  not  return  to  Stockholm  so 
soon." 


118 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


The  army  was  already  on  its  march,  and  was  passing  by 
Dresden,  when  Charles,  who  was  at  the  head  of  his  men, 
always  riding,  as  usual,  two  or  three  hundred  paces  before 
his  guards,  all  of  a  sudden  vanished  from  their  sight.  Some 
officers  advanced  at  full  gallop  to  see  where  he  was.  They 
ran  to  all  parts,  but  could  not  find  him.  In  a  moment  the 
alarm  was  spread  over  the  whole  army.  The  troops  were 
ordered  to  halt;  the  generals  assembled^  together,  and  were 
already  in  the  utmost  consternation.  At  length,  they  learned 
from  a  Saxon,  who  was  passing  by,  what  was  become  of 
the  king. 

As  he  was  passing  so  near  Dresden,  he  took  it  into  his 
head  to  pay  a  visit  to  Augustus.  He  entered  the  town  on 
horseback,  followed  by  three  or  four  general  officers.  The 
centries  of  the  gate  asked  them  their  names.  Charles  said 
his  name  was  Carl,  and  that  he  was  a  Draban ;  and  all  the 
rest  took  fictitious  names.  Count  Fleming,  seeing  them  pass 
through  the  town,  had  only  time  to  run  and  inform  his  mas- 
ter. All  that  could  possibly  be  done  on  such  an  occasion 
immediately  presented  itself  to  the  mind  of  that  minister, 
who  suggested  it  to  Augustus.  But  Charles  entered  the 
chamber  in  his  boots,  before  Augustus  had  time  to  recover 
from  his  surprise.  Augustus  was  then  sick,  and  in  his  night- 
gown, but  dressed  himself  in  haste.  Charles  breakfasted 
with  him,  as  a  traveller  who  comes  to  take  leave  of  his 
friend ;  and  then  expressed  his  desire  of  viewing  the  forti- 
fications. During  the  short  time  he  employed  in  walking 
around  them,  a  Livonian,  who  had  been  condemned  in  Swe- 
den, and  now  served  in  the  Saxon  army,  imagining  that  he 
could  never  find  a  more  favourable  opportunity  of  obtaining 
his  pardon,  entreated  Augustus  to  ask  it  of  Charles ;  per- 
suading himself,  that  his  majesty  would  not  refuse  so  small 
a  favour  to  a  prince  from  whom  he  had  taken  a  crown,  and 
in  whose  power  he  now  seemed  to  be.  Augustus  readily 
undertook  to  make  the  request.  He  was  then  some  distance 
from  the  king,  and  was  conversing  with  Hord,  a  Swedish 
general.    "  I  believe,"  said  he,  smiling,  "your  master  will 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


119 


not  refuse  me."  "  You  do  not  know  him,"  replied  General 
Hord ;  "  he  is  more  likely  to  refuse  you  here  than  any  where 
else."  Augustus,  however,  did  not  fail  to  prefer  the  petition 
in  very  pressing  terms ;  and  Charles  refused  it  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  prevent  a  repetition  of  the  request.  After 
having  passed  some  hours  in  this  strange  visit,  he  embraced 
Augustus,  and  departed.  Upon  rejoining  his  army,  he  found 
all  his  generals  still  in  consternation.  They  told  him  they 
had  determined  to  besiege  Dresden  if  his  majesty  had  been 
detained  prisoner.  "  Right,"  said  the  king,  "but  they  durst 
not."  Next  day,  upon  hearing  the  news,  that  Augustus  held 
an  extraordinary  council  at  Dresden,  "  You  will  find,"  said 
Baron  Stralenheim,  "  they  are  deliberating  upon  what  they 
should  have  done  yesterday."  A  few  days  after,  Renschild 
coming  to  wait  upon  the  king,  expressed  his  surprise*  at  this 
unaccountable  visit  to  Augustus.  "  I  confided,"  said  Charles, 
"  in  my  good  fortune ;  but  I  have  seen  the  moment  that 
might  have  been  prejudicial  to  me.  Fleming  had  no  mind 
that  I  should  leave  Dresden  so  soon." 


120 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


BOOK  IV. 

Argument. — Charles  quits  Saxony. — Pursues  the  czar. — Penetrates 
into  the  Ukraine. — His  losses. — Is  wounded. — The  battle  of  Pultowa. 
— Consequences  of  that  battle. — Charles  is  forced  to  fly  into  Turkey. 
— His  reception  in  Bessarabia. 

Charles  at  length  took  leave  of  Saxony,  in  September, 
1707,  at  the  head  of  an  army  of  forty-three  thousand  men, 
formerly  covered  with  steel,  but  now  shining  with  gold  and 
silver,  and  enriched  by  the  spoils  of  Poland  and  Saxony ; 
every  soldier  carrying  with  him  fifty  crowns  in  ready  money. 
The  regiments  were  not  only  complete,  but  every  company  had 
several  supernumeraries,  who  waited  for  vacancies.  Besides 
this  army,  Count  Lewenhaupt,  one  of  his  best  generals,  wait- 
ed for  him  in  Poland,  with  twenty  thousand  men.  He  had 
also  another  army  of  fifteen  thousand  in  Finland ;  and  fresh 
recruits  were  coming  to  him  from  Sweden.  With  ail  these 
forces,  it  was  not  doubtMbut  that  he  would  dethrone  the  czar. 

That  emperor  was  at  that  time  in  Lithuania,  endeavouring 
to  re-animate  a  party  which  Augustus  appeared  to  have 
abandoned.  His  troops,  divided  into  several  bodies,  fled  on 
all  sides,  at  the  first  news  of  the  king  of  Sweden's  approach. 
He  had  himself  enjoined  his  generals  never  to  wait  for  this 
conqueror  with  unequal  forces;  and  he  was  accordingly 
obeyed. 

The  king  of  Sweden,  in  the  midst  of  his  victorious  march, 
received  an  ambassador  on  the  part  of  the  Turk.  This  am- 
bassador had  his  audience  in  the  tent  of  Count  Piper,  in 
which  all  visits  of  ceremony  were  received.  On  these  oc- 
casions, this  minister  supported  the  dignity  of  his  master  by 
the  appearance  of  a  little  magnificence;  while  the  king,  who 
was  always  worse  lodged,  worse  served,  and  more  plainly 
dressed  than  the  meanest  officer  in  his  army,  used  to  say, 
that  his  palace  was  at  Count  Piper's.  The  Turkishambas- 
sador  presented  Charles  with  a  hundred  Swedish  €6ldiers, 
who,  having  been  taken  by  the  Caimucks,  and  sold  in  Tur^ 


KING  OF  SWEDEN 


121 


key,  had  been  purchased  by  the  grand  seignior,  who  had 
I  sent  them  back  to  the  king,  as  the  most  acceptable  present 
I  he  could  make  him.    Not  that  the  Ottoman  pride  deigned 
to  pay  homage  to  the  glory  of  Charles  XII.,  but  because  the 
sultan,  being  the  natural  enemy  of  the  emperors  of  Russia 
and  Germany,  was  desirous  to  fortify  himself  against  them 
by  the  friendship  of  Sweden,  and  the  alliance  of  Poland. 
t  The  ambassador  complimented  Stanislaus  upon  his  accession 
to  the  throne;  so  that  this  king  was  in  a  short  space  of  time 
acknowledged  by  German}^  France,  England,  Spain  and 
Turkey.    There  remained  only  the  pope,  who  deferred  the 
acknowledgment  till  time  should  have  settled  on  his  head  a 
crown,  of  which  a  sinister  accident  might  deprive  him. 

Charles  had  scarce  given  audience  to  the  Turkish  ambas- 
sador, before  he  went  in  pursuit  of  the  Muscovites.  The 
Russians  had  quitted  Poland,  and  returned  to  it  above  twenty 
different  times  during  the  course  of  the  war.  This  country, 
which  is  open  on  all  sides,  and  has  no  fortresses  to  cut  off 
the  retreat  of  an  army,  gave  the  Muscovites  an  opportunity 
of  often  revisiting  the  very  spot  where  they  had  formerly 
been  vanquished,  and  even  of  penetrating  as  far  into  the 
heart  of  the  kingdom  as  the  vanquisher.  During  Charles's 
stay  in  Saxony,  the  czar  had  advanced  as  far  as  Leopold, 
situated  at  the  southern  extremity  of  Poland ;  but  was  at 
this  time  at  Grodno  in  Lithuania,  a  hundred  leagues  from 
Leopold. 

Charles  left  Stanislaus  in  Poland  to  defend  his  new  king- 
dom, with  the  assistance  of  ten  thousand  Swedes,  and  his 
own  subjects,  against  his  foreign  and  domestic  enemies; 
while  he  put  himself  at  the  head  of  his  cavalry,  and  march- 
ed, amidst  frost  and  snow,  to  Grodno,  in  the  month  of  Ja- 
nuary, 1708. 

He  had  passed  the  Njemen,  about  two  leagues  from  the 
town,  before  the  czar  ifnew  any  thing  of  his  march.  Upon 
the  first  news  of  the  arrival  of  the  Swedish  army,  however, 
the  czar  quitted  the  town  by  the  north  gate,  and  Charles  en- 
tered it  by  the  south,  having  only  six  hundred  of  his  guards 
F  11 


122  HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 

with  him,  the  rest  not  being  able  to  keep  pace  with  hii 
The  czar  fled  with  above  two  thousand  men,  apprehending 
that  a  whole  army  was  entering  Grodno.  But  being  inform- 
ed the  same  day  by  a  Polish  deserter,  that  he  had  abandon- 
ed the  place  to  no  more  than  six  hundred  men,  and  that  the 
main  body  of  the  army  was  still  five  leagues  distant,  he  lost 
no  time  in  detaching  fifteen  hundred  horse  of  his  own  troops, 
in  the  evening,  to  surprize  the  king  of  Sweden  in  the  town. 
This  detachment,  under  favour  of  the  darkness,  arrived  un- 
discovered at  the  first  Swedish  guard,  which,  though  consist- 
ing only  of  thirty  men,  sustained,  for  half  a  quarter  of  an 
hour,  the  efforts  of  the  whole  fifteen  hundred.  The  king, 
who  was  at  the  other  end  of  the  town,  flew  to  their  assist- 
ance with  the  rest  of  his  six  hundred  guards  ;  upon  which, 
the  Russians  fled  with  precipitation.  His  army  was  not  long 
in  joining  him,  when  he  set  out  in  pursuit  of  the  enemy. 
All  the  Russian  troops  dispersed  through  Lithuania  retired 
hastily  to  the  eastward,  into  the  palatinate  of  Minsky,  near 
the  frontiers  of  Muscovy,  their  general  rendezvous.  The 
Swedes,  whom  the  king  had  likewise  divided  into  several 
bodies,  continued  to  pursue  the  enemy  for  more  than  thirty 
leagues.  Both  the  pursued  and  the  pursuers  made  forced 
marches  almost  every  day,  though  in  the  middle  of  winter. 
Indeed,  all  seasons  of  the  year  had  long  become  indifferent 
to  the  soldiers,  both  of  Charles  and  the  czar ;  the  terroi 
struck  by  the  name  of  King  Charles,  now  making  the  only 
difference  between  the  Russians  and  the  Swedes. 

From  Grodno  to  the  Boristhenes  eastward,  is  a  country  of 
morasses,  deserts,  and  immense  forests.  Even  in  the  culti- 
vated spots  there  are  no  provisions  to  be  had,  the  peasants 
burying  their  grain,  and  whatever  else  can  be  so  preserved, 
under  ground.  These  subterraneous  stores  were  discovera- 
ble only  by  boring  the  earth  with  iron  augers :  the  Musco- 
vites and  the  Swedes  alternately  making  use  of  these  provi- 
sions ;  but  they  Were  not  always  to  be  found,  and  even  then 
were  not  sufficient. 

The  king  of  Sweden,  who  had  foreseen  these  difficulties, 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


123 


had  provided  biscuit  for  the  subsistence  of  his  army,  so  that 
nothing  could  stop  his  march.  After  having  traversed  the 
forest  of  Minsky,  where  he  was  constantly  obliged  to  cut 
down  the  trees  to  clear  the  road  for  his  troops  and  baggage, 
he  found  himself  on  the  25th  of  June,  1708,  on  the  banks  of 
the  river  Berezine,  opposite  to  Borislow. 

The  czar  had  in  this  place  assembled  the  best  part  of  his 
forces,  and  intrenched  himself  to  great  advantage  ;  his  de- 
sign being  to  hinder  the  Swedes  from  crossing  the  river. 
Charles  posted  some  regiments  on  the  banks  of  the  Berezine, 
over  against  Borislow,  as  if  he  meant  to  attempt  a  passage  in 
the  face  of  the  enemy.  At  the  same  time  marching  his  army 
three  leagues  higher  up  the  river,  he  threw  a  bridge  across 
it,  cut  his  way  through  a  body  of  three  thousand  men,  who 
defended  that  pass,  and  without  halting,  marched  on  toward 
the  main  body  of  the  enemy.  The  Russians  did  not  wait 
his  approach,  but  decamped,  and  retreated  toward  the  Bo- 
risthenes,  breaking  up  the  roads,  and  destroying  every  thing 
in  their  way,  in  order  to  retard  the  pursuit  of  the  Swedes. 

Charles  surmounted  all  these  obstacles,  and  advanced  to- 
ward the  Boristhenes.  He  was  opposed  in  his  march  by 
twenty  thousand  Muscovites,  intrenched  at  a  place  called 
Hollosin,  behind  a  morass,  which  could  not  be  approached 
without  passing  a  river.  Charles  did  not  delay  the  attack 
till  the  rest  of  his  infantry  should  arrive,  but  plunged  into 
the  water  at  the  head  of  his  guards,  and  crossed  the  river 
and  the  morass,  the  water  frequently  reaching  above  his 
shoulders.  While  he  was  thus  pressing  forward  to  the  ene- 
my, he  ordered  his  cavalry  to  go  round  the  morass,  and  at- 
tack them  in  flank.  The  Muscovites,  astonished  that  no 
barrier  could  defend  them,  were  instantly  routed  by  the  king, 
who  attacked  them  on  foot  with  his  guards,  and  by  the 
Swedish  cavalry. 

These  having  forced  their  way  through  the  enemy,  join- 
ed the  king  in  the  midst  of  the  battle.  He  then  mounted 
on  horseback ;  but  observing  soon  after  a  young  Swedish 
gentleman,  named  Guillenstern,  for  whom  he  had  a  great 


124 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  Xil. 


regard,  wounded  and  unable  to  walk,  he  obliged  him  to  take 
his  horse,  and  continued  to  command  on  foot  at  the  head  of 
his  infantry.  Of  all  the  battles  he  had  fought,  this  was,  per- 
haps, the  most  glorious  ;  being  that  in  which  he  encounter- 
ed the  greatest  dangers,  and  displayed  the  most  consummate 
skill  and  prudence.  The  memory  of  it  is  still  preserved  by 
a  medal,  with  this  inscription  on  one  side,  Silva,  Paludes, 
Aggeres,  Hostes  victi :  on  the  reverse  the  following  verse  of 
Lucan,  Victrices  copias  alium  laturus  in  Orbem. 

The  Russians  thus  driven  from  their  posts,  repassed  the 
Boristhenes,  which  divides  Poland  from  Muscovy.  But  this 
did  not  induce  Charles  to  give  over  the  pursuit;  who  follow- 
ed them  across  that  great  river,  which  he  passed  at  Mohi- 
low,  the  last  town  of  Poland,  and  which  alternately  belongs 
to  the  Poles  and  to  the  Russians ;  the  usual  fate  of  frontier 
towns. 

The  czar,  seeing  his  empire,  in  which  he  had  lately  esta- 
blished the  polite  arts  and  a  flourishing  trade,  thus  exposed 
to  a  war,  which,  in  a  short  time,  might  overturn  all  his  mighty 
projects,  and  perhaps  deprive  him  of  his  crown,  began  to 
think  seriously  of  peace ;  and  accordingly  ventured  to  make 
some  proposals  to  that  purpose  by  a  Polish  gentleman,  whom 
he  sent  to  the  Swedish  army.  Charles,  who  had  not  been 
accustomed  to  make  peace  with  his  enemies,  except  in  their 
own  capitals,  replied,  "  I  will  treat  with  the  czar  at  Mos- 
cow." When  this  haughty  answer  was  reported  to  the  czar, 
he  said,  "  My  brother  Charles  always  affects  to  play  the  part 
of  Alexander;  but  I  flatter  myself  he  will  not  find  in  me 
another  Darius." 

From  Mohilow,  where  the  king  passed  the  Boristhenes, 
as  you  advance  toward  the  north,  about  thirty  leagues  along 
the  banks  of  that  river,  still  on  the  frontiers  of  Poland  and 
Muscovy,  you  enter  the  country  of  Smolensko,  through 
which  lies  the  great  road  that  leads  from  Poland  to  Musco- 
vy. This  way  the  czar  directed  his  flight,  and  the  king 
pursued  him  by  long  marches  ;  so  that  part  of  the  Russian 
rear-guard  was  frequently  engaged  with  the  dragoons  of  the 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


125 


van-guard  of  the  Swedes.  The  latter  had  generally  the  ad- 
vantage, but  they  were  weakened  even  by  victory  in  these 
small  skirmishes,  which  were  never  decisive,  and  in  which 
they  constantly  lost  a  number  of  men. 

On  the  22d  of  September,  1708,  the  king  attacked  a  body 
of  ten  thousand  horse,  and  six  thousand  Calmucks,  near 
Smolensko. 

The  Calmucks  are  Tartars,  living  between  the  kingdom 
of  Astracan,  subject  to  the  czar,  and  that  of  Samarcande, 
belonging  to  the  Usbeck  Tartars,  and  the  country  of  Timur, 
known  by  the  name  of  Tamerlane.  The  country  of  the 
Calmucks  extends  eastward  to  the  mountains  which  divide 
the  dominions  of  the  Mogul  from  the  western  parts  of  Asia. 

The  inhabitants  of  that  part  of  the  country  which  borders 
upon  Astracan,  are  tributary  to  the  czar,  who  lays  claim  to 
an  absolute  authority  over  them ;  but  their  vagrant  life  hin- 
ders him  from  making  it  good,  and  obliges  him  to  treat  them 
in  the  same  manner  in  which  the  grand  seignor  treats  the 
Arabs;  sometimes  conniving  at,  and  sometimes  punSjfei$ 
their  depredations.  There  are  always  some  of  these  Cal- 
mucks in  the  Russian  army ;  and  the  czar  had  even  reduced 
them  to  a  regular  discipline,  like  the  rest  of  his  soldiers. 

King  Charles  attacked  these  troops  with  only  six  regi- 
ments of  horse  and  four  thousand  foot;  broke  the  Muscovites 
at  the  first  onset,  at  the  head  of  his  regiment  of  Ostrogothia, 
and  obliged  them  to  fly.  He  pursued  them  through  rugged 
and  hollow  ways,  where  the  Calmucks  awhile  concealing 
themselves,  soon  re-appeared,  and  cut  off  the  regiment  at 
the  head  of  which  the  king  fought  from  the  rest  of  the  Swe- 
dish army.  The  Russians  and  Calmucks  jointly  surrounded 
this  regiment,  and  forced  their  way  even  to  the  king's  per- 
son. Two  aids-de-camp  fighting  near  him  fell  at  his  feet 
The  king's  horse  was  killed  under  him  ;  and  as  one  of  his 
equerries  was  presenting  him  with  another,  both  the  equerry 
and  horse  were  shot  dead  upon  the  spot.  Charles  then 
fought  on  foot,  surrounded  by  his  officers,  who  instantly 
flocked  around  him. 


126 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


Many  of  them  were  taken,  wounded,  or  slain,  or  pushed 
to  a  great  distance  from  the  king  by  the  crowds  that  assailed 
them ;  so  that  he  was  soon  left  with  no  more  than  five  at- 
tendants. With  his  own  hand  he  had  killed  above  twelve 
of  the  enemy,  without  receiving  a  single  wound ;  owing  to 
that  surprising  good  fortune  which  had  hitherto  attended 
him,  and  upon  which  he  constantly  relied.  At  length,  a 
colonel,  named  Dardof,  broke  his  way  through  the  Calmucks, 
and  with  a  single  company  of  his  regiment  arrived  time 
enough  to  save  the  king.  The  rest  of  the  Swedes  put  the 
Tartars  to  the  sword.  The  army  recovered  its  ranks ;  Charles 
mounted  his  horse,  and  fatigued  as  he  was,  pursued  the 
Russians  for  two  leagues. 

The  conqueror  was  still  in  the  great  road  to  the  capital  of 
Muscovy.  But  the  distance  from  Smolensko,  near  which 
the  battle  was  fought,  to  Moscow,  is  about  a  hundred  French 
leagues ;  and  the  army  began  to  be  in  want  of  provisions. 
Count  Piper  earnestly  entreated  the  king  to  wait  till  General 
Lewenhaupt,  who  was  bringing  him  supplies,  together  with 
a  reinforcement  of  fifteen  thousand  men,  should  arrive.  The 
king,  who  seldom,  indeed,  took  council  of  any,  not  only  re- 
jected this  wholesome  advice,  but,  to  the  great  astonishment 
of  all  the  army,  quitted  the  road  to  Moscow,  and  began  to 
march  southward  towards  the  Ukraine,  the  country  of  the 
Cossacks,  lying  between  Little  Tartary,  Poland,  and  Mus- 
covy. This  country  extends  about  a  hundred  French  leagues 
from  north  to  south,  and  almost  as  many  from  east  to  west. 
It  is  divided  into  two  parts  nearly  equal,  by  the  Boristhenes, 
which  runs  from  the  north-west  to  the.  south-east.  The  chief 
town  is  Bathurin,  situated  upon  the  little  river  Sem.  The 
most  northern  part  of  the  Ukraine  is  rich,  and  well  culti- 
vated. The  southernmost,  lying  in  the  forty-eighth  degree 
of  latitude,  is  one  of  the  most  fertile  countries  in  the  world, 
and  yet  one  of  the  most  desolate.  Its  wretched  form  of 
government  stifles  in  embryo  all  the  blessings  which  nature, 
if  properly  encouraged,  would  bring  forth  for  the  inhabitants. 
The  people  of  these  cantons,  indeed,  neither  sow  nor  plant, 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


127 


j  j  because  the  Tartars  of  Budziack,  Precop,  and  Moldavia, 

If  being  all  of  them  free-booters  and  banditti,  would  rob  them 

If  of  their  harvests. 

The  Ukraine  hath  always  aspired  after  liberty ;  but  being 

j  surrounded  by  Muscovy,  the  states  of  the  grand  seignor, 
and  by  Poland,  it  has  been  obliged  to  choose  a  protector, 

1  and  consequently  a  master,  in  one  of  these  three  states. 

.  The  inhabitants  at  first  put  themselves  under  the  protection 

!  of  the  Poles,  who  treated  them  too  much  like  vassals.  They 
afterwards  submitted  to  the  Russians,  who  governed  them 
with  as  despotic,  a  sway. 

They  had  originally  the  privilege  of  electing  a  prince  un- 
der the  name  of  general;  but  they  were  soon  deprived  of 
that  right;  and  their  general  was  nominated  by  the  court  of 
Moscow. 

The  person  who  then  filled  that  station  was  a  Polish  gen- 
tleman, named  Mazeppa,  born  in  the  palatinate  of  Podolia. 
He  had  been  educated  as  page  to  John  Casirair,  and  had  re- 
ceived some  tincture  of  polite  learning  in  his  court.  An  in- 
trigue which  he  had  in  his  youth  with  the  lady  of  a  Polish 
gentleman  having  been  discovered,  the  husband  caused  him 
to  be  whipped  with  rods,  to  be  bound  stark  naked  upon  a 
wild  horse,  and  turned  adrift  in  that  condition.  The  horse, 
which  had  been  brought  out  of  the  Ukraine,  returned  to  his 
own  country,  and  carried  Mazeppa  with  him,  half  dead  with 
hunger  and  fatigue.  Some  of  the  country  people  gave  him 
assistance ;  and  he  lived  among  them  for  a  long  time,  sig- 
nalizing himself  in  several  excursions  against  the  Tartars. 
The  superiority  of  his  knowledge  gained  him  great  respect 
among  the  Cossacks  ;  and  his  reputation  greatly  increasing, 
the  czar  found  it  necessary  to  make  him  prince  of  the 
Ukraine. 

Being  one  day  at  table  with  the  czar  at  Moscow,  the  em- 
peror proposed  to  him  the  task  of  disciplining  the  Cossacks, 
and  rendering  them  more  docile  and  dependant.  Mazeppa 
replied,  that  the  situation  of  the  Ukraine,  and  the  genius  of 
the  nation,  were  insuperable  obstacles  to  such  a  scheme. 


128 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


The  czar,  who  began  to  be  overheated  with  wine,  and  had 
not,  when  sober,  always  the  command  of  his  passions 
called  him  a  traitor,  and  threatened  to  have  him  impaled. 

Mazeppa,  on  his  return  to  the  Ukraine,  formed  the  design 
of  a  revolt;  the  execution  of  which  was  greatly  facilitated 
by  the  Swedish  army,  that  soon  after  appeared  on  the  fron 
tiers.    He  resolved  to  render  himself  independent,  and  t 
erect  the  Ukraine,  with  some  other  ruins  of  the  Russia 
empire,  into  a  powerful  kingdom.    Brave,  enterprising,  an 
indefatigable,  he  entered  secretly  into  a  league  with  the  kin 
of  Sweden,  to  accelerate  the  ruin  of  the  czar,  and  to  convert 
it  to  his  own  advantage. 

The  king  appointed  a  rendezvous  near  the  river  Desna, 
where  Mazeppa  promised  to  meet  him  at  the  head  of  thirty 
thousand  men,  with  ammunition  and  provisions,  together 
with  all  his  treasures,  which  were  immense.  The  Swe- 
dish army,  therefore,  continued  its  march  on  that  side,  to 
the  great  regret  of  all  the  officers  who  knew  nothing  of 
the  king's  treaty  with  the  Cossacks.  In  the  mean  time, 
Charles  sent  orders  to  Lewenhaupt  to  bring  his  troops  and 
provisions,  with  all  possible  despatch,  into  the  Ukraine, 
where  he  proposed  to  pass  the  winter,  that  having  once  se- 
cured that  country,  he  might  the  more  easily  conquer  Mus- 
covy in  the  ensuing  spring.  He  continued  still  to  advance 
towards  the  river  Desna,  which  falls  into  the  Boristhenes  at 
Kiow. 

The  obstructions  the  troops  had  hitherto  encountered  in 
their  march,  were  but  trifling  in  comparison  of  what  they 
met  with  in  this  new  route.  They  were  obliged  to  cross  a 
marshy  forest,  fifty  leagues  in  length.  General  Lagercron, 
who  led  the  way  with  five  thousand  soldiers  and  pioneers, 
misled  the  army  thirty  leagues  too  far  to  the  east ;  nor  did 
the  king  discover  the  mistake  till  after  a  tiresome  march  of 
four  days.  With  difficulty  they  regained  the  right  road;  but 
almost  all  their  artillery  and  wagons  were  lost,  being  either 
stuck  fast,  or  entirely  sunk  in  the  morass. 

After  a  march  of  twelve  days,  attended  with  many  yexa- 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


129 


tious  and  untoward  circumstances,  during  which  they  had 
consumed  the  small  quantity  of  biscuit  that  was  left,  the  ar- 
my, exhausted  with  hunger  and  fatigue,  arrived  on  the  banks 
of  the  Desna ;  the  very  spot  which  Mazeppa  had  marked  out 
as  a  place  of  rendezvous;  but  instead  of  meeting  with  that 
prince,  they  found  a  body  of  Muscovites  advancing  towards 
the  other  side  of  the  river.  The  king  was  astonished,  but 
resolved  immediately  to  pass  the  Desna,  and  attack  the  ene- 
my. The  banks  of  the  river  were  so  steep,  that  the  soldiers 
were  obliged  to  descend  to  the  water  with  ropes.  They 
crossed  it  in  their  usual  manner,  some  on  floats  which  were 
made  in  haste,  and  others  by  swimming.  The  body  of  Mus- 
covites which  arrived  at  the  same  time,  did  not  exceed  eight 
thousand  men  ;  so  that  it  made  but  little  resistance,  and  this 
obstacle  was  also  surmounted. 

Charles  advanced  farther  into  this  desolate  country,  alike 
uncertain  of  his  route  and  of  Mazeppa's  fidelity.  That  Cos- 
sack appeared  at  last,  but  rather  like  a  fugitive  than  a  pow- 
erful ally.  The  Muscovites  had  discovered  and  defeated  his 
design ;  they  had  fallen  upon  the  Cossacks  and  cut  them  in 
pieces.  His  principal  friends  being  taken  sword  in  hand, 
had,  to  the  number  of  thirty,  been  broke  on  the  wheel ;  his 
towns  were  reduced  to  ashes ;  his  treasures  plundered  ;  the 
provisions  he  was  preparing  for  the  king  of  Sweden  seized; 
and  it  was  with  great  difficulty  that  he  himself  made  his  es- 
cape with  six  thousand  men,  and  some  horses  laden  with 
gold  and  silver.  He  gave  the  king,  nevertheless,  some  hopes 
that  he  should  be  able  to  assist  him  by  his  intelligence  in 
that  unknown  country,  and  by  the  affection  of  the  Cossacks, 
who,  being  enraged  against  the  Russians,  flocked  to  the 
camp,  and  supplied  the  army  with  provisions. 

Charles  hoped,  at  least,  that  General  Lewenhaupt  would 
.ome  and  repair  this  misfortune.  He  was  to  bring  with  him 
about  fifteen  thousand  Swedes,  who  were  better  than  a 
hundred  thousand  Cossacks,  together  with  ammunition  and 
provisions.  At  length  he  arrived,  in  much  the  same  condi* 
tion  with  Mazeppa.  , 


130  HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 

He  had  already  passed  the  Boristhenes  above  Mihilovv,  J 
and  advanced  twenty  leagues  beyond  it,  on  the  road  to  the 
Ukraine.    He  was  bringing  the  king  a  convoy  of  eight  thou-  I 
sand  wagons,  with  the  money  which  he  had  levied  in  his 
march  through  Lithuania.    He  no  sooner  approached  the 
town  of  Lesno,  near  the  conflux  of  the  rivers  Pronia  and  j 
Sossa,  which  fall  into  the  Boristhenes  at  a  great  distance  be- 
neath it,  than  the  czar  appeared  at  the  head  of  near  forty 
thousand  men. 

The  Swedish  general,  who  had  not  sixteen  thousand  com- 
plete, disdained,  however,  the  defence  of  intrenchments.  A 
long  train  of  victories  had  inspired  the  Swedes  with  so  much 
conlidence,  that  they  never  informed  themselves  of  the  num- 
ber of  their  enemies,  but  only  of  the  place  where  they  were. 
Accordingly,  on  the  seventh  of  October,  1708,  in  the  after- 
noon, Lewenhaupt  without  hesitation  advanced  against  him. 
In  the  first  attack,  the  Swedes  killed  fifteen  hundred  Rus- 
sians. The  czar's  army  was  thrown  into  confusion,  and  fled 
on  all  sides.  The  emperor  of  Russia  saw  himself  upon  the 
point  of  being  entirely  defeated.  He  was  sensible  that  the 
safety  of  his  dominions  depended  upon  the  success  of  this 
day,  and  that  he  must  be  utterly  ruined,  should  Lewenhaupt 
join  the  king  of  Sweden  with  a  victorious  army. 

The  moment  he  saw  his  troops  begin  to  give  way,  he  flew 
to  the  rear  guard,  where  the  Cossacks  and  Calmucks  were 
posted.  "  I  charge  you,"  said  he,  "  to  fire  upon  every  one 
that  runs  away,  even  on  me  myself,  should  I  be  so  cowardly 
as  to  fly."  Returning  then  to  the  van,  he  rallied  his  troops 
himself,  assisted  by  the  Princes  Menzikoif  and  GalUtzin. 
Lewenhaupt,  who  had  received  strict  orders  to  rejoin  his 
master,  chose  rather  to  continue  his  march  than  renew  the 
battle,  imagining  he  had  done  enough  to  prevent  the  enemy 
from  pursuing  him. 

Next  morning,  about  eleven  o'clock,  the  czar  attacked  him 
upon  the  border  of  the  morass,  and  extended  his  lines  with 
a  view  to  surround  him.  The  Swedes  faced  about  on  all 
sides,  and  the  battle  was  maintained  with  equal  obstinacy. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


131 


The  loss  of  the  Muscovites  was  three  times  greater  than  that 
of  the  Swedes ;  the  former  still  kept  their  ground,  and  the 
victory  was  left  undecided. 

At  four  in  the  afternoon,  General  Baver  brought  the  czar 
a  reinforcement  of  troops.  The  battle  was  then  renewed  for 
the  third  time,  with  more  eagerness  than  ever,  and  lasted 
till  night,  when,  at  length,  superior  numbers  prevailed;  the 
Swedes  were  broke,  routed,  and  driven  back  to  their  bag- 
gage. Lewenhaupt  rallied  his  troops  behind  the  wagons. 
The  Swedes  were  conquered,  but  disdained  to  fly.  They 
were  still  about  nine  thousand  in  number,  and  not  so  much 
as  one  of  them  deserted.  The  general  drew  them  up.  in  or- 
der of  battle,  with  as  much  ease  as  if  they  had  not  been  de- 
feated. The  czar,  on  the  other  side,  remained  all  night  un- 
der arms,  and  forbade  his  officers  under  pain  of  being  cashier- 
ed, and  his  soldiers  under  pain  of  death,  to  leave  their  ranks 
in  order  to  plunder. 

Next  morning  at  day-break,  he  ordered  a  fresh  assault. 
Meantime,  Lewenhaupt  had  retired  to  an  advantageous  situa- 
tion at  the  distance  of  a  few  miles,  after  having  nailed  up 
part  of  his  cannon,  and  set  fire  to  his  baggage-wagons. 

The  Muscovites  arrived  time  enough  to  prevent  the  whole 
convoy  from  being  consumed  by  the  flames.  They  seized 
about  six  thousand  carriages,  which  they  saved.  The  czar, 
desirous  of  completing  the  defeat  of  the  Swedes,  sent  one  of 
his  general,  named  Phlug,  to  attack  them  again  for  the  fifth 
time.  That  general  offered  them  an  honourable  capitulation, 
Lewenhaupt  refused  it,  and  fought  a  fifth  battle,  as  bloody  as 
any  of  the  former.  Of  the  nine  thousand  soldiers  he  had 
left,  he  lost  about  one  half,  the  other  remained  unbroken.  At 
length,  night  coming  on,  the  Swedish  general,  after  having 
sustained  five  battles  against  forty  thousand  men,  passed  the 
Sossa,  with  about  five  thousand  soldiers  that  remained.  The 
czar  lost  about  ten  thousand  men  in  these  five  engagements, 
in  which  he  had  the  glory  of  conquering  the  Swedes ;  and 
Lewenhaupt  that  of  disputing  the  victory  for  three  days,  and 
of  effecting  a  retreat  without  having  been  forced  in  his  last 


132 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


post.  Thus  he  arrived  at  his  master's  camp  with  the  honour 
of  having  so  bravely  defended  himself,  but  bringing  with 
him  neither  ammunition  nor  army. 

The  king  of  Sweden  thus  found  himself  destitute  of  pro- 
visions, cut  off  from  all  communication  with  Poland,  an 
surrounded  with  enemies,  in  the  heart  of  a  country  where  h 
had  no  other  resource  than  his  own  courage. 

In  this  extremity,  the  memorable  winter  of  1709,  whic 
was  still  more  severe  in  that  part  of  Europe  than  in  France, 
destroyed  numbers  of  his  troops;  for  Charles  resolved  to 
brave  the  seasons,  as  he  had  done  his  enemies,  and  ventured 
to  make  long  marches  during  this  mortal  cold.  It  was  in 
one  of  these  marches  that  two  thousand  men  fell  down  dead 
with  cold  almost  before  his  eyes.  The  dragoons  had  no 
boots,  and  the  infantry  were  without  shoes,  and  almost  with- 
out clothes.  They  were  forced  to  make  stockings  of  the 
skins  of  wild  beasts,  in  the  best  manner  they  could,  and  they 
were  frequently  in  want  of  bread.  They  had  been  obliged 
to  throw  almost  all  their  cannon  into  the  -marshes  and  rivers, 
for  want  of  horses  to  draw  them  ;  so  that  this  once  flourish- 
ing army  was  reduced  to  twenty-four  thousand  men,  ready 
to  perish  with  hunger.  They  no  longer  received  any  ad- 
vices from  Sweden,  nor  were  able  to  send  any  thither.  In 
this  condition,  only  one  officer  complained.  "What,"  said 
the  king  to  him,  "are  you  uneasy  at  being  so  far  from  your 
wife  ?  If  you  are  a  true  soldier,  I  will  lead  you  to  such  a 
distance,  that  you  shall  hardly  be  able  to  hear  from  Sweden 
once  in  three  years." 

The  Marquis  de  B***,  afterwards  ambassador  in  Sweden, 
told  me,  that  a  soldier  ventured,  in  presence  of  the  whole 
army,  to  present  to  the  king,  with  an  air  of  complaint,  a 
piece  of  bread  that  was  black  and  mouldy,  made  of  barley 
and  oats,  which  was  the  only  food  they  then  had,  and  of 
which  they  had  not  even  a  sufficiency.  The  king  received 
the  piece  of  bread  without  the  least  emotion,  eat  every  mor- 
sel of  it,  and  then  cooly  said  to  the  soldier,  "  It  is  not  good, 
but  it  may  be  eaten."    This  incident,  trifling  as  it  is,  if  in- 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


133 


deed  any  thing  that  increases  respect  and  confidence  can  be 
called  trifling,  contributed  more  than  all  the  rest  to  make 
the  Swedish  army  support  those  hardships,  which  would 
have  been  intolerable  under  any  other  general. 

In  this  situation,  he  at  last  received  news  from  Stockholm; 
but  they  brought  only  advice  of  the  death  of  his  sister,  the 
duchess  of  Holstein,  who  was  carried  off  by  the  small-pox, 
in  the  month  of  December,  1708,  in  the  twenty-seventh 
year  of  her  age.  She  was  a  princess  as  mild  and  gentle  as 
her  brother  was  imperious  in  his  disposition  and  implacable 
in  his  revenge.  He  had  always  entertained  a  great  affection 
for  her ;  and  was  the  more  afflicted  with  her  death,  as  now 
beginning  to  taste  of  misfortunes  himself,  he  was  of  course 
become  a  little  more  susceptible. 

He  was  also  informed,  that  money  and  troops  had  been 
raised  in  Sweden,  agreeably  to  his  orders ;  but  nothing 
could  reach  his  camp,  as  between  him  and  Stockholm  there 
were  near  five  hundred  leagues  to  march,  and  an  enemy  su- 
perior in  number  to  engage. 

The  czar,  who  was  as  active  as  the  king,  after  having  sent 
fresh  troops  to  the  assistance  of  the  confederates  of  Poland, 
who,  under  the  command  of  General  Siniauski,  exerted 
their  joint  efforts  against  Stanislaus,  immediately  advanced 
into  the  Ukraine,  in  the  midst  of  this  severe  winter,  to  make 
head  against  the  king  of  Sweden.  He  continued  to  pursue 
the  political  scheme  he  had  formed,  of  weakening  his  ene- 
mies by  petty  rencounters,  wisely  judging  that  the  Swedish 
army  must  in  the  end  be  entirely  ruined,  as  it  could  not 
possibly  be  recruited.  The  cold  must  certainly  have  been 
very  severe,  as  it  obliged  the  two  moniarchs  to  agree  to  a 
suspension  of  arms.  But  on  the  first  of  February  they  re- 
newed their  military  operations,  in  the  midst  of  frost  and 
snow. 

After  several  slight  skirmishes  and  some  losses,  the  king 
perceived,  in  the  month  of  April,  that  he  had  only  eighteen 
thousand  Swedes  remaining.  Mazeppa  alone,  the  prince  of 
the  Cossacks,  supplied  them  with  provisions,  without  which 

12 


134  HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 

assistance  the  army  must  have  perished  with  cold  and  hun- 
ger. At  this  conjuncture,  the  czar  made  proposals  to  Ma- 
zeppa,  to  return  again  under  his  authority.  But  whether  it 
was  that  the  terrible  punishment  of  the  wheel,  by  which 
his  friends  had  perished,  made  the  Cossack  apprehend  the 
same  danger  for  himself,  or  that  he  was  desirous  of  reveng- 
ing their  deaths,  he  continued  faithful  to  his  new  ally. 

Charles,  with  his  eighteen  thousand  Swedes,  had  neither 
lost  the  design  nor  the  hope  of  penetrating  to  Moscow.  He, 
therefore,  toward  the  end  of  May,  laid  siege  to  Pultowa, 
upon-  the  river  Vorska,  at  the  eastern  extremity  of  the 
Ukraine,  and  more  than  thirteen  leagues  from  the  Boris- 
thenes.  This  country  is  inhabited  by  the  Zaporavians,  the 
most  extraordinary  people  on  the  earth.  They  are  a  collec- 
tion of  ancient  Russians,  Poles,  and  Tartars,  professing  a 
gpecies  of  Christianity,  and  exercising  a  kind  of  free-booting, 
resembling  that  of  the  buccaneers.  They  elect  a  chief, 
whom  they  frequently  depose  or  strangle.  They  suffer  no 
woman  to  live  among  them,  but  carry  oft  all  the  children  for 
twenty  or  thirty  leagues  around,  and  bring  them  up  to  their 
own  manners.  In  the  summer,  they  always  live  in  the  open 
fields  ;  in  the  winter  they  shelter  themselves  in  large  barns, 
which  contain  four  or  five  hundred  men.  They  fear  nothing, 
live  free,  and  brave  death  for  the  smallest  booty,  with  the 
same  intrepidity  as  Charles  XII.  did,  in  order  to  obtain  the 
power  of  bestowing  crowns.  The  czar  gave  them  sixty 
thousand  florins,  in  the  hope  to  engage  them  in  his  interest 
They  took  his  money,  but,  through  the  intrigues  of  Mazep- 
pa,  immediately  declared  in  favour  of  Charles ;  though  their 
service  was  of  very  little  consequence,  as  they  esteem  it  a 
folly  to  fight  for  any  thing  but  plunder.  It  was  no  small 
advantage,  however,  that  they  were  prevented  from  doing 
harm.  The  number  of  their  troops  was  at  most  but  about 
two  thousand.  Ten  of  their  chiefs  were  presented  one 
morning  to  the  king ;  but  they  had  great  difficulty  t*  prevail 
on  them  to  remain  sober,  as  they  commonly  begin  the  day 
by  getting  drunk.    They  were  brought  to  the  intrenchments, 


ICING  OF  SWEDEN. 


135 


where  they  showed  their  dexterity  in  firing-  with  long  car- 
bines ;  for  being  placed  upon  the  mounds,  they  killed,  at  the 
distance  of  six  hundred  paces,  such  of  the  enemy  as  were 
pointed  out.  To  these  banditti,  Charles  added  several  thou- 
sand Wallachians,  whom  he  had  hired  from  the  cham  of  Lit- 
tle Tartary.  He  then  laid  siege  to  Pultowa  with  all  these 
troops  of  Zaporavians,  Cossacks,  and  Wallachians ;  which, 
joined  to  his  eighteen  thousand  Swedes,  made  up  an  army, 
of  about  thirty  thousand  men,  but  an  army  in  a  wretched  con- 
dition, and  in  want  of  every  thing.  The  czar  had  formed  a 
magazine  in  Pultowa,  which,  if  the  king  had  taken,  he  would 
have  opened  himself  a  way  to  Moscow ;  and  have  been  able 
at  least,  amidst  the  great  abundance  he  would  then  have  pos- 
sessed, to  wait  the  arrival  of  the  succours  Which  he  still  ex- 
pected from  Sweden,  Livonia,  Pomerania,  and  Poland.  His 
only  resource,  therefore,  being  in  the  conquest  of  Pultowa, 
he  pressed  the  siege  of  it  with  great  ardour.  Mazeppa,  who 
carried  on  a  correspondence  in  that  town,  assured  him  that 
he  would  soon  be  master  of  it.  This  hope  re-animated  the 
whole  army ;  for  the  soldiers  considered  the  taking  of  Pul- 
towa as  the  end  of  all  their  miseries. 

The  king  perceived,  from  the  beginning  of  the  siege,  that 
he  had  taught  his  enemies  the  art  of  war ;  for,  in  spite  of  all 
his  precautions,  Prince  MenzikofF  threw  succours  into  the 
town,  by  which  means  the  garrison  was  strong  to  the  num- 
ber of  almost  five  thousand  men. 

They  made  several  sallies,  and  sometimes  with  success  : 
they  likewise  sprung  mines ;  but  what  rendered  the  town 
impregnable  was  the  approach  of  the  czar,  who  advanced 
with  seventy  thousand  men.  Charles  went  to  reconnoitre 
them  on  the  twenty-seventh  of  May,  the  day  of  his  birth, 
and  beat  one  of  their  detachments;  but  as  he  was  returning 
to  his  camp,  he  received  a  shot  from  a  carbine,  which  pierced 
his  boot,  and  shattere  1  the  bone  of  his  heel.  There  was 
not  the  least  alteration  observable  in  his  countenance,  from 
which  it  could  be  suspected  that  he  was  wounded ;  he  con- 
tinued to  give  orders  with  great  composure,  and  after  this  ac- 


136 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


cident  remained  near  six  hours  on  horseback.  One  of  his  do- 
mestics observing  that  the  sole  of  the  king's  boot  was  covered 
with  blood,  ran  to  call  the  surgeons;  and  the  pain  was  now 
become  so  exquisite,  that  they  were  obliged  to  assist  him  in 
dismounting,  and  to  carry  him  into  his  tent.  The  surgeons 
examined  the  WDund,  and  were  of  opinion  that  the  leg  must 
be  cut  off.  The  consternation  of  the  army  on  this  occasion 
was  inexpressible,  till  one  of  the  surgeons,  named  Newman, 
who  had  more  skill  and  courage  than  the  rest,  affirmed,  that 
by  making  deep  incisions  he  could  save  the  king's  leg.  "  Fall 
to  work  then  presently,"  said  the  king  to  him,  "  cut  boldly, 
and  fear  nothing."  He  himself  held  his  leg  with  both  his 
hands,  and  beheld  the  incisions  that  were  made  in  it  as  if 
the  operation  had  been  performed  upon  another  person. 

While  they  were  laying  on  the  dressings,  he  ordered  an 
assault  to  be  made  the  next  day ;  but  he  had  hardly  given 
this  order,  before  he  was  informed  that  the  whole  army  of 
the  enemy  was  advancing  against  him.  It  became  then  ne- 
cessary to  alter  his  measures.  Charles,  wounded  and  inca- 
pable of  acting,  saw  himself  situated  between  the  Boris- 
thenes  and  the  river  that  runs  to  Pultowa,  in  a  desert  coun- 
try, without  any  places  of  security,  without  ammunition,  and 

?in  the  face  of  an  army  which  at  once  cut  off  his  retreat,  and 
presented  his  being  supplied  with  provisions.  In  this  ex- 
tremity he  did  not  assemble  a  council  of  war,  as  has  been 
published  in  some  other  accounts,  but  on  the  night  between 
the  seventh  and  eighth  of  July,  he  sent  for  Velt  Mareschal 
Renschild  into  his  tent,  and  without  deliberation,  or  the  least 
discomposure,  ordered  him  to  make  the  necessary  disposi- 
tions for  attacking  the  czar  next  day.    Renschild  made  no 

p^Bjfcctions,  and  went  to  carry  his  orders  into  execution.  At 
the  door  of  the  king's  tent  he  met  Count  Piper,  with  whom 
he  had  had  a  misunderstanding  for  some  time,  which  fre- 
quently happens  between  the  min'ster  and  the  general. 
Piper  asked  him  if  he  had  any  news.  v**'No,"  said  the 
general  coldly,  and  passed  on  to  give  his  orders.  As  soon 
as  Count  Piper  had  entered  the  tent,  "  Has  Renschild  told 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


137 


you  nothing  ?"  said  the  king.  "Nothing,"  answered  Piper. 
"Well,  then,  I  will  tell  you,"  replied  the  king;  "to-mor- 
row we  shall  give  battle."  Count  Piper  was  terrified  at  so 
desperate  a  resolution  ;  but  as  he  well  knew  it  was  impossi- 
ble to  make  his  master  change  his  mind,  he  expressed  his 
surprise  only  by  his  silence,  and  left  Charles  to  sleep  till 
break  of  day. 

It  was  on  the  8th  of  July,  1709,  that  the  decisive  battle  of 
Pultowa  was  fought  between  the  two  most  extraordinary 
monarchs  that  were  then  in  the  world  :  Charles  XII.,  illus- 
trious from  nine  years  of  victories;  Peter  Alexiowitz  from 
nine  years  of  labours,  taken  to  form  troops  equal  to  those  of 
Sweden:  the  one  glorious  for  having  given  away  dominions; 
the  other  for  having  civilized  his  own  :  Charles  fond  of  dan- 
gers, and  fighting  for  glory  alone;  Alexiowitz  not  avoiding 
dangers,  and  making  war  only  for  advantage  :  the  Swedish 
monarch  liberal  from  greatness  of  soul ;  the  Muscovite  never 
giving  but  with  some  design  :  the  one,  master  of  a  continence 
and  sobriety  beyond  example,  of  a  magnanimous  disposition, 
and  never  cruel  but  once;  the  other,  not  having  yet  devested 
himself  from  the  barbarism  of  his  education  and  of  his  coun- 
try, as  much  the  object  of  terror  to  his  subjects  as  of  admira- 
tion to  strangers,  and  too  prone  to  excesses,  which  even 
shortened  his  days.  Charles  bore  the  title  of  "invincible," 
of  which  a  single  moment  might  deprive  him ;  the  neigh- 
bouring nations  had  given  Peter  Alexiowitz  the  name  of 
"  great,"  which,  as  he  did  not  owe  it  to  his  victories,  he  could 
not  lose  by  a  defeat. 

To  have  a  distinct  idea  of  this  battle,  and  the  place  where 
it  was  fought,  we  must  figure  to  ourselves  Pultowa  on  the 
north,  the  camp  of  the  king  of  Sweden  on  the  south,  stretch- 
ing a  little  toward  the  east,  his  baggage  about  a  mile  behind 
him,  and  the  river  of  Pultowa  on  the  north  of  the  town,  run- 
ning from  east  to  west. 

The  czar  had  passed  the  river  about  a  league  from  Pulto- 
wa, toward  the  west,  and  was  beginning  to  form  his  camp. 

At  break  of  day  the  Swedes  appeared  before  the  trenches 
12* 


138 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


with  four  iron  cannon,  which  was  the  whole  of  their  artil- 
lery ;  the  rest  were  left  in  the  camp,  with  about  three  thou- 
sand men,  and  four  thousand  remained  with  the  baggage ; 
so  that  the  Swedish  army  which  advanced  against  the  ene- 
my, consisted  of  about  one-and-twenty  thousand  men,  of 
which  there  were  about  sixteen  thousand  Swedes. 

The  Generals  Renschild,  Roos,  Lewenhaupt,  Schlipen- 
back,  Hoorn,  Sparre,  Hamilton,  the  prince  of  Wirtemberg, 
the  king's  relation,  and  some  others,  the  greatest  part  of 
whom  had  seen  the  battle  of  Narva,  put  the  subaltern  offi- 
cers in  mind  of  that  day,  wherein  eight  thousand  Swedes  de- 
feated an  army  of  eighty  thousand  Muscovites  in  their  in- 
trenchments.  The  officers  exhorted  the  soldiers  by  the  same 
motive,  every  one  encouraging  each  other  in  their  march. 

The  king,  carried  in  a  litter  at  the  head  of  his  infantry, 
conducted  the  march.  A  party  of  the  cavalry  advanced  by 
his  order  to  attack  that  of  the  enemy ;  and  the  battle 
began  with  this  engagement  at  half  an  hour  past  four  in  the 
morning.  The  enemy's  cavalry  was  posted  toward  the 
west,  on  the  right  side  of  the  Russian  camp.  Prince  Men- 
zikolf  and  Count  Gallowin  had  placed  them  at  certain  dis- 
tances between  redoubts  lined  with  cannon.  General  Schli- 
penback,  at  the  head  of  the  Swedes,  rushed  upon  this  body 
of  cavalry.  All  those  who  have  served  in  the  Swedish  troops, 
know  that  it  is  almost  impossible  to  withstand  the  fury  of 
their  first  attack.  The  Muscovite  squadrons  were  broken 
and  routed.  The  czar,  who  ran  up  to  rally  them  in  person, 
had  his  hat  pierced  with  a  musket  ball ;  MenzikofT  had  three 
horses  killed  under  him  ;  the  Swedes  cried  out  "  victory  !" 

Charles  did  not  doubt  but  that  the  battle  was,  gained  ;  he 
had  sent  in  the  middle  of  the  night  General  Creuts,  with 
five  thousand  horse  or  dragoons,  who,  were  to  take  the  ene- 
my in  Hank,  while  he  attacked  them  in  front ;  but  as  his  ill 
fortune  would  have  it,  Creuts  mistook  his  way,  and  did  not 
appear.  The  czar,  who  thought  he  was  ruined,  had  time  to 
rally  his  cavalry.  He  now  in  his  turn,  fell  upon  that  of  the 
king,  which,  not  being  supported  by  the  detachment  of 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


139 


1  Creuts,  was  broken  in  its  turn.    Schlipenback  was  taken 
!  prisoner  in  this  engagement.    At  the  same  time,  seventy- 
two  pieces  of  cannon  played  from  the  camp  upon  the  Swe- 
dish cavalry ;  and  the  Russian  infantry,  opening  their  lines, 
advanced  to  attack  that  of  Charles. 

The  czar  now  detached  Prince  Menzikoff  to  go  and  post 
himself  between  Pultowa  and  the  Swedes.  Prince  Menzi- 
koff executed  his  master's  orders  with  dexterity  and  ei  sedi- 
tion ;  and  not  only  cut  off  the  communication  between  the 
Swedish  army  and  the  camp  before  Pultowa,  but,  having 
met  with  a  corps  de  reserve,  of  three  thousand  men,  he  sur- 
rounded them,  and  cut  them  to  pieces.  If  Menzikoff  per- 
formed this  exploit  of  bis  own  accord,  Russia  owes  its  pre- 
servation to  him  :  if  it  was  by  the  order  of  the  czar,  he  was 
an  adversary  worthy  of  Charles  XII.  Meanwhile,  the  Rus- 
sian infantry  came  out  of  their  lines,  and  advanced  into  the 
plain  in  order  of  battle.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Swedish 
cavalry  rallied  within  a  quarter  of  a  league  from  the  enemy ; 
and  the  king,  assisted  by  Velt-Mareschal  Renschild,  made 
the  necessary  disposition  for  a  general  engagement. 

He  ranged  the  remainder  of  his  troops  in  two  lines,  his 
infantry  occupying  the  centre,  and  his  cavalry  the  two  wings. 
The  czar  disposed  his  army  in  the  same  manner ;  he,  how- 
ever, had  the  advantage  of  numbers,  and  of  seventy-two 
pieces  of  cannon,  while  the  Swedes  had  no  more  than  four 
to  oppose  him,  and  began  to  be  in  want  of  powder. 

The  emperor  of  Muscovy  was  m  the  centre  of  his  army, 
having  then  only  the  title  of  major  general,  and  seemed  to 
obey  General  Zeremetoff.  But  he  rode  from  rank  to  rank 
in  the  character  of  emperor,  mounted  on  a  Turkish  horse 
which  was  a  present  from  the  grand  seignor,  animating  the 
captains  and  soldiers,  and  promising  rewards  to  them  all. 

At  nine  in  the  morning  the  battle  was  renewed.  One  of 
the  first  discharges  of  the  Russian  cannon  carried  off  the  two 
horses  of  Charles's  litter.  He  caused  two  others  to  be  put 
to  it  A  second  discharge  broke  the  litter  in  pieces,  and 
overturned  the  king,    uf  four-and-twenty  drab  ants,  who  re- 


140 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


lieved  each  other  in  carrying  him,  one-and-twenty  were  kill- 
ed. The  Swedes,  struck  with  consternation,  began  to  stag- 
ger; and  the  cannon  of  the  enemy  continuing  to  mow  them 
down,  the  first  line  fell  back  upon  the  second,  and  the  se- 
cond began  to  fly.  In  this  last  action,  it  was  only  one  line 
of  ten  thousand  Russian  infantry  that  routed  the  whole  Swe- 
dish army  ;  so  much  were  matters  changed  ! 

All  the  Swedish  writers  affirm,  that  they  would  have  gain- 
ed the  battle,  if  they  had  not  committed  several  blunders ; 
but  all  the  officers  pretend,  that  it  was  a  great  error  to  give 
battle  at  all,  and  a  greater  still  to  shut  themselves  up  in  a 
desert  country,  against  the  advice  of  the  most  prudent  gene- 
erals,  in  opposition  to  a  warlike  enemy,  three  times  stronger 
than  Charles,  both  in  the  number  of  men  and  the  many  re- 
sources from  which  the  Swedes  were  entirely  cut  off.  The 
remembrance  of  Narva  was  the  principal  cause  of  Charles's 
misfortune  at  Pultowa. 

The  prince  of  Wirtemberg,  General  Renschild,  and  se- 
veral principal  officers,  were  already  made  prisoners ;  the 
camp  before  Pultowa  was  stormed  ;  and  all  was  thrown  into 
a  confusion,  against  which  they  had  no  remedy.  Count  Piper, 
with  some  officers  of  the  chancery,  had  left  the  camp,  and 
neither  knew  what  to  do,  nor  what  was  become  of  the  king, 
but  ran  about  from  one  corner  of  the  field  of  battle  to  the 
other.  A  major  named  Bere,  offered  to  conduct  them  to  the 
baggage ;  but  the  clouds  of  dust  and  smoke  which  covered 
the  country,  and  the  confusion  of  mind  so  natural  amidst 
such  consternation,  brought  them  directly  to  the  counter- 
scarp of  the  town,  where  they  were  all  made  prisoners  by 
the  garrison. 

The  king  refused  to  fly,  and  was  unable  to  defend  him- 
self. It  was  at  this  instant  that  General  Poniatowsky  hap- 
pened to  be  near  him,  colonel  of  Stanislaus's  Polish  guards, 
a  man  of  extraordinary  merit,  who  had  been  induced,  from 
his  attachment  to  the  person  of  Charles,  to  follow  him  into  the 
Ukraine,  without  possessing  auy  command.  He  was  a  man 
who,  in  all  the  occurrences  of  life,  and  amidst  those  dangers 


KING  OF  SWEDEN.  141 

in  which  others  would  at  most  have  displayed  their  courage, 
always  took  his  resolution  with  despatch,  prudence  and  suc- 
cess. He  made  a  sign  to  two  drabants,  who  took  the  king 
under  the  arms,  and  placed  him  on  horseback,  notwithstand- 
ing the  extreme  pain  of  his  wounds. 

Poniatowsky,  though  he  had  no  command  in  the  army, 
became  on  this  occasion  a  general  through  necessity,  and 
rallied  five  hundred  horse  near  the  king's  person  ;  some  of 
them  drabants,  others  officers,  and  a  few  private  troopers. 
This  body  being  assembled,  and  animated  by  the  misfortune 
of  their  prince,  made  their  way  through  more  than  ten  Rus- 
sian regiments,  and  conducted  Charles  through  the  midst  of 
the  enemy  for  the  space  of  a  league,  to  the  baggage  of  the 
Swedish  army. 

Charles,  being  pursued  in  his  flight,  had  his  horse  killed 
under  him  ;  Colonel  Gieta,  though  wounded  and  spent  with 
loss  of  blood,  gave  him  his.  Thus,  in  the  course  of  the  flight, 
they  twice  put  this  conqueror  on  horseback,  who  had  not 
been  able  to  mount  a  horse  during  the  engagement. 

This  surprising  retreat  was  of  great  consequence  in  such 
distressful  circumstances;  but  he  was  obliged  to  fly  still  fur- 
ther. They  found  Count  Piper's  coach  among  the  baggage, 
for  the  king  had  never  used  one  since  he  left  Stockholm; 
they  put  him  into  this  vehicle,  and  took  their  route  toward 
the  Boristhenes  with  great  precipitation.  The  king,  who 
from  the  time  they  put  him  on  horseback  till  his  arrival  at  the 
baggage,  had  not  spoke  a  single  word,  at  length  iuquired 
what  was  become  of  Count  Piper.  They  told  him  he  was 
taken  prisoner,  with  all  the  officers  of  the  chancery.  "  And 
General  Renschild  and  the  duke  of  Wirtemberg  r"  added  the 
king.  "  They  are  also  prisoners,"  said  Poniatowsky.  "  Pri- 
soners to  the  Russians  !"  returned  Charles,  shrugging  up  his 
shoulders  :  "  Came,  then,  let  us  rather  go  to  the  Turks." 
They  could  not  perceive,  however,  the  least  mark  of  dejec- 
tion in  his  countenance;  and  whoever  had  seen  him  at  that 
time,  without  knowing  his  situation,  would  never  have  sus- 
pected that  he  was  conquered  and  wounded. 


142 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


While  he  was  getting  off,  the  Russians  seized  his  artillery 
in  the  camp  before  Pultowa,  his  baggage,  and  his  military- 
chests,  in  which  they  found  six  millions  in  specie,  the  spoils 
of  the  Poles  and  Saxons.  About  nine  thousand  men,  Swedes 
and  Cossacks,  were  killed  in  the  battle,  and  about  six  thou- 
sand taken  prisoners.  There  still  remained  about  sixteen 
thousand  men,  including  the  Swedes,  Poles,  and  Cossacks, 
who  fled  toward  the  Boristhenes,  under  the  conduct  of  Ge- 
neral Lewenhaupt.  He  marched  one  way  with  these  fugi- 
tive troops,  and  the  king  took  another  road  with  some  of  his 
horse.  The  coach  in  which  he  rode  broke  down  in  their 
march,  and  they  again  set  him  on  horseback.  To  complete 
his  misfortune,  he  wandered  all  night  in  a  wood  ;  where,  his 
courage  being  no  longer  able  to  support  his  exhausted  spi- 
rits, the  pain  of  his  wound  becoming  more  intolerable  through 
fatigue,  and  his  horse  falling  under  him  through  weariness, 
he  lay  several  hours  at  the  foot  of  a  tree,  in  danger  of  being 
surprised  every  moment  by  the  conquerors,  who  were  search- 
ing for  him  on  all  sides. 

At  last,  in  the  night  of  the  ninth  or  tenth  of  July,  he  found 
himself  opposite  to  the  Boristhenes.  Lewenhaupt  had  just 
arrived  with  the  remains  of  his  army.  The  Swedes  beheld 
with  a  mixture  of  joy  and  grief,  their  king,  whom  they  had 
believed  dead.  The  enemy  was  approaching,  and  the  Swedes 
had  neither  a  bridge  to  pass  the  river,  time  to  make  one, 
powder  to  defend  themselves,  nor  provision  to  support  an 
army,  which  had  eat  nothing  for  two  days.  At  the  same 
time,  the  remains  of  this  army  were  Swedes,  and  the  con- 
quered king  was  Charles  XII.  Almost  all  the  officers  ima- 
gined that  they  were  to  wait  there  with  firmness  for  the 
Russians,  and  that  they  should  either  conquer  or  die  on  the 
banks  of  the  Boristhenes.  There  was  no  doubt  but  Charles 
would  have  taken  this  resolution,  had  he  not  been  exhaust- 
ed with  weakness.  His  wound  was  now  come  to  suppura- 
tion, attended  with  a  fever  ;  and  it  hath  been  remarked,  that 
men  of  the  greatest  intrepidity,  when  seized  with  a  fever, 
which  is  common  in  suppuration,  lose  that  instinct  of  valour, 


KING  OF  SWEDEN.  143 

which,  like  other  virtues,  requires  the  direction  of  a  clear 
head.  Charles  was  now  no  longer  himself.  It  is  what  I 
have  been  assured  of,  and  what  is  most  probably  the  truth. 
They  carried  him  along  like  a  sick  person  in  a  state  of  in- 
j  sensibility.  There  was  yet,  by  good  luck,  a  sorry  calash, 
which  they  accidentally  had  brought  thither  with  them. 
This  they  put  on  board  a  little  boat ;  and  the  king  and  Ge- 
neral Mazeppa  embarked  in  another.  The  latter  had  saved 
several  coffers  full  of  money;  but  the  current  being  too 
rapid,  and  a  violent  wind  beginning  to  rise,  the  Cossack 
threw  more  than  three-fourths  of  his  treasures  into  the  river 
to  lighten  the  boat.  Mullern,  the  king's  chancellor,  and 
Count  Poniatowsky,  a  man  more  necessary  to  the  king  than 
ever,  by  the  resources  which  his  ingenuity  furnished  in  every 
difficulty,  crossed  over  in  other  barks,  with  some  officers. 
Three  hundred  of  the  Swedish  cavalry,  and  a  great  number 
of  Poles  and  Cossacks,  trusting  to  the  goodness  of  their 
horses,  ventured  to  pass  the  river  by  swimming.  Their  troop, 
keeping  close  together,  resisted  the  current  and  broke  the 
w  aves ;  but  all  those  who  attempted  to  pass  a  little  below 
were  carried  down  by  the  stream,  and  perished  in  the  river. 
Of  the  infantry  who  risked  the  passage,  not  one  arrived  on 
the  opposite  shore. 

While  the  shattered  remains  of  the  army  were  in  this  ex- 
tremity, Prince  Menzikoff  approached  with  ten  thousand 
horsemen,  having  each  a  foot  soldier  behind  him.  The  car- 
cases of  Swedes  who  had  died  by  the  way,  of  their  wounds, 
fatigue,  and  hunger,  sufficiently  apprized  him  of  the  road 
w  hich  the  fugitive  army  had  taken.  The  prince  sent  a  trum- 
pet to  the  Swedish  general,  to  offer  him  a  capitulation. 
Four  general  officers  were  immediately  despatched  by  Lewen- 
haupt  to  receive  the  commands  of  the  conqueror.  Before 
that  day,  sixteen  thousand  soldiers  of  King  Charles  would 
have  attacked  the  whole  forces  of  the  Russian  empire,  and 
would  have  perished  to  a  man  rather  than  surrender.  But 
after  the  loss  of  a  battle,  and  flight  of  two  days,  deprived  of 
the  presence  of  their  prince,  who  was  himself  constrained 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


to  fly,  the  strength  of  every  soldier  being  exhausted,  and 
their  courage  no  longer  supported  by  hope,  the  love  of  life 
overcame  their  natural  intrepidity.  Colonel  Troutefette  alone, 
since  governor  of  Stralsund,  observing  the  Muscovites  ap- 
proach, advanced  with  one  Swedish  battalion  to  attack  them, 
hoping,  by  this  means,  to  induce  the  rest  of  the  troops  to  fol- 
low his  example.  But  Lewenhaupt  was  obliged  to  oppose 
this  unavailing  ardour.  The  capitulation  was  settled,  and 
the  whole  army  were  made  prisoners  of  war.  Some  sol- 
diers, in  despair  at  the  thoughts  of  falling  into  the  hands  of 
the  Muscovites,  precipitated  themselves  into  the  Boristhenes. 
Two  officers  of  the  regiment  of  the  brave  Troutefette,  killed 
each  other,  and  the  rest  were  made  slaves.  They  all  filed 
off  in  the  presence  of  Prince  Menzikoff,  laying  their  arms 
at  his  feet,  as  thirty  thousand  Muscovites  had  done  nine  years 
before  at  those  of  the  king  of  Sweden  at  Narva;  with  this 
difference,  that  the  king  dismissed  all  those  Muscovite  pri- 
soners, whom  he  did  not  fear,  an'*  the  czar  retained  the 
Swedes  who  were  taken  at  Pultovra. 

These  unhappy  creatures  were  afterwards  dispersed 
through  the  czar's  dominions,  particularly  in  Siberia,  a  vast 
province  of  Great  Tartary,  which  extends  eastward  to  the 
frontiers  of  the  Chinese  empire.  In  this  barbarous  country, 
where  even  the  use  of  bread  was  unknown,  the  Swedes,  be- 
come ingenious  through  necessity,  exercised  the  trades  and 
employments  of  which  they  had  the  least  notion.  All  the 
distinctions  which  fortune  makes  among  men  were  there 
banished.  The  officer  who  could  not  follow  any  trade  was 
obliged  to  cleave  and  carry  wood  for  the  soldier,  now  turned 
tailor,  clothier,  joiner,  mason,  or  goldsmith,  and  who  earned 
his  subsistence.  Some  of  the  officers  became  painters,  and 
others  architects  ;  some  of  them  even  taught  the  languages 
and  mathematics.  They  even  established  some  public 
schools,  which  in  time  became  so  useful  and  famous,  that 
children  were  sent  thither  from  Moscow. 

Count  Piper,  the  king  of  Sweden's  first  minister,  was  a 
long  time  confined  in  prison  at  Petersburgh.    The  czar  was 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


145 


|  persuaded,  as  well  as  the  rest  of  Europe,  that  this  minister 
|i  had  sold  his  master  to  the  duke  of  Marlborough,  and  drawn 
I  on  Muscovy  the  arms  of  Sweden,  which  might  have  given 
I  peace  to  Europe.    He,  therefore,  rendered  his  confinement 
I  the  more  severe.    The  minister  died  a  few  years  after  in 
I  Muscovy,  little  assisted  by  his  own  family,  who  lived  in  opu- 
I  lence  at  Stockholm,  and  vainly  lamented  by  his  king,  who 
would  never  condescend  to  offer  a  ransom  for  his  minister, 
which  he  feared  the  czar  would  not  accept  of,  as  no  cartel 
of  exchange  had  ever  been  settled  between  Charles  and  the 
i  czar. 

The  emperor  of  Muscovy,  elated  with  a  joy  which  he 
i  took  no  pains  to  conceal,  received  upon  the  field  of  battle 
j  the  prisoners,  whom  they  brought  to  him  in  crowds and 
I  asked  every  moment,  "  Where,  then,  is  my  brother 
•  Charles!" 

He  did  the  Swedish  generals  the  honour  of  inviting  them 
to  his  table.  Among  other  questions  which  he  put  to  them, 
he  asked  General  Renschild,  "  what  might  be  the  number  of 
his  master's  troops  before  the  battle  ?"  Renschild  answered, 
"  that  the  king  alone  had  the  muster-roll,  and  would  never 
communicate  it  to  any  one ;  but  that  for  his  own  part,  he 
imagined  the  whole  might  be  about  thirty  thousand,  of  which 
eighteen  thousand  were  Swedes,  and  the  rest  Cossacks." 
The  czar  seemed  to  be  surprised,  and  asked,  "  how  they 
durst  venture  to  penetrate  into  so  distant  a  country,  and  lay 
siege  to  Pultowa,  with  such  a  handful  of  men?"  "We  are 
not  always  consulted,"  replied  the  Swedish  general,  "  but, 
like  faithful  servants,  we  obey  our  master's  orders,  without 
ever  presuming  to  contradict  them."  The  czar,  at  this  an- 
swer, turned  about  to  some  of  his  courtiers,  who  were  for- 
merly suspected  of  having  engaged  in  a  conspiracy  against 
him  :  "Ah  !  (says  he)  see  how  a  king  ought  to  be  served  j" 
and  then  taking  a  glass  of  wine,  "  To  the  health,"  says  he, 
"  of  my  masters  in  the  art  of  war."  Renschild  asked  him 
who  were  the  persons  whom  he  honoured  with  so  high  a 
G  13 


146 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


title.  "You,  gentlemen,  the  Swedish  generals,"  replied  the 
czar.  "  Your  majesty  is  very  ungrateful,  then,"  replied  the 
count,  W  to  treat  your  masters  with  so  much  severity."  After 
dinner,  the  czar  caused  their  swords  to  be  restored  to  all  the 
general  officers,  and  behaved  to  them  like  a  prince  who  wish- 
ed give  his  subjects  a  lesson  of  generosity  and  politeness, 
with  which  he  was  well  acquainted.  But  this  very  prince, 
who  treated  the  Swedish  generals  with  so  much  humanity, 
caused  all  the  Cossacks  that  fell  into  his  hands  to  be  "broke 
upon  the  wheel. 

Thus  the  Swedish  army,  which  left  Saxony  so  triumphant- 
ly, was  now  no  more.  One  half  of  them  had  perished  with 
Aunger,  and  the  other  half  were  either  massacred  or  made 
slaves.  Charles  XII.  had  lost  in  one  day  the  fruit  of  nine 
years  labour,  and  of  almost  a  hundred  battles.  He  was  fly- 
ing in  a  wretched  calash,  having  by  his  side  Major-Genera] 
Hord,  who  was  dangerously  wounded.  The  rest  of  his  party 
followed,  some  on  foot,  some  on  horseback,  and  others  in 
wagons,  through  a  desert,  where  they  neither  saw  huts,  tents, 
men,  beasts,  nor  roads ;  every  thing  was  wanting,  even  water 
itself.  It  was  now  the  beginning  of  July ;  the  country  lay 
in  the  forty-seventh  degree  of  latitude  ;  the  dry  sand  of  the 
desert  rendered  the  heat  of  the  sun  the  more  insupportable; 
the  horses  dropped  down  by  the  way ;  and  the  men  were 
ready  to  die  with  thirst.  A  brook  of  muddy  water,  which 
they  found  towards  evening,  was  their  only  resource  ;  they 
filled  some  bladders  with  this  water,  which  saved  the  lives 
of  the  king's  little  troop.  After  a  march  of  five  days,  he  at 
last  found  himself  on  the  banks  of  the  river  Hypanis,  now 
called  Bogh  by  the  barbarians  who  have  disfigured  the  very 
names  of  those  countries  which  once  flourished  so  nobly  in 
the  possession  of  the  Greek  colonies.  This  river  joins  the 
Boristhenes  some  miles  lower,  and  falls  along  with  it  into 
the  Black  Sea. 

On  the  other  side  of  the  Bogh,  toward  the  south,  stands 
the  little  town  of  Oczakou,  a  frontier  of  the  Turkish  empire. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN.  147 

The  inhabitants  seeing  a  troop  of  soldiers  approach,  to  whose 
dress  and  language  they  were  strangers,  refused  to  carry 
them  over  the  river  without  an  order  from  Mehemet  Pacha, 
governor  of  Oczakou.  The  king  sent  an  express  to  the  go- 
vernor to  demand  a  passage.  This  Turk,  not  knowing  what 
to  do  in  a  country  where  one  false  step  frequently  costs  a'man 
his  life,  did  not  dare  to  take  any  thing  upon  himself  with- 
out having  first  obtained  the  permission  of  the  seraskier  of 
the  province,  who  resides  at  Bender,  in  Bessarabia.  While 
they  were  waiting  for  this  permission,  the  Russians,  who 
had  made  the  king's  army  prisoner,  had  crossed  the  Boris- 
thenes,  and  were  approaching  to  take  him  also.  At  last  the 
pacha  of  Oczakou  sent  word  to  the  king,  that  he  would  fur- 
nish him  with  one  small  boat  to  transport  himself  and  two 
or  three  of  his  attendants.  In  this  extremity,  the  Swedes 
took  by  force  what  they  could  not  obtain  by  gentle  means  : 
some  of  them  went  over  to  the  other  side  in  a  small  skiff, 
seized  on  some  boats,  and  brought  them  to  the  hither  bank 
of  the  river.  This  proved  their  safe-guard  ;  for  the  masters 
of  the  Turkish  barks,  fearing  they  should  lose  such  a  fa- 
vourable opportunity  of  getting  a  good  freight,  came  in  crowds 
to  offer  their  service.  At  the  same  time,  precisely,  arrived 
a  favourable  answer  frQm  the  seraskier  of  Bender :  but  the 
Muscovites  appeared,  and  the  king  had  the  mortification  to 
see  five  hundred  of  his  men  seized  by  the  enemy,  whose  in- 
sulting bravadoes  he  even  heard.  The  pacha  of  Oczakou, 
by  means  of  an  interpreter,  asked  his  pardon  for  the  delays 
which  had  occasioned  the  loss  of  these  five  hundred  men, 
and  humbly  intreated  him  not  to  complain  of  it  to  the  grand 
seignor.  Charles  promised,  though  not  without  giving  him 
as  severe  a  reprimand  as  if  he  had  been  speaking  to  one  of 
his  own  subjects. 

The  commander  of  Bender,  -who  was  likewise  seraskier, 
a  title  which  answers  to  that  of  general,  and  pacha  of  the 
province,  which  signifies  governor  and  intendant,  immedi- 
ately sent  an  aga  to  compliment  the  king,  and  to  offer  him  a 


t48 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


magnificent  tent,  with  provision,  baggage  wagons,  and  all 
the  conveniences,  officers,  and  attendants,  necessary  to  con- 
duct him  to  Bender  in  a  splendid  manner ;  for  it  is  the  cus- 
tom of  the  Turks  not  only  to  defray  the  charges  of  am- 
bassadors to  the  place  of  their  residence,  but  likewise 
to  supply,  with  great  liberality,  the  necessities  of  those 
princes  who  take  refuge  among  them,  during  the  time  of 
their  stay. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


149 


BOOK  V. 

Argument. — State  of  the  Ottoman  Porte. — Charles  takes  up  his  abode 
near  Bender. — His  employments. — His  intrigues  at  the  Porte. — His 
designs.— Augustus  regains  his  throne. — The  king  of  Denmark  makes 
a  descent  upon  Sweden. — All  the  other  dominions  of  Charles  are  at- 
tacked.— The  czar  enters  Moscow  in  triumph. — The  affair  of  Pruth. 
— History  of  the  czarina,  who  from  a  peasant  becomes  an  empress. 

Achmet  III.  at  that  time  governed  the  Turkish  empire. 
He  had  been  placed  upon  the  throne  in  1703,  in  the  room 
of  his  brother  Mustapha,  by  a  revolution  like  to  that  which 
transferred  the  crown  of  England  from  James  II.  to  his  son- 
in-law  William.  Mustapha,  by  submitting  in  every  thing 
to  his  mufti,  whom  the  Turks  abhorred,  provoked  the  whole 
empire  to  rise  against  him.  His  army,  by  the  assistance  of 
which  he  hoped  to  punish  the  malcontents,  joined  his  ene- 
mies. He  was  seized  and  deposed  in  form,  and  his  brother 
taken  from  the  seraglio  in  order  to  be  created  sultan,  almost 
without  spilling  a  single  drop  of  blood.  Achmet  shut  up  the 
deposed  sultan  in  the  seraglio  at  Constantinople,  where  he 
lived  for  several  years,  to  the  great  astonishment  of  Turkey, 
which  had  been  accustomed  to  see  the  death  of  her  princes 
immediately  follow  their  dethronement. 

The  new  sultan,  as  the  only  recompense  for  a  crown 
which  he  owed  to  the  ministers,  to  the  generals,  to  the  offi- 
cers of  the  Janizaries,  and  in  a  word,  to  those  who  had 
had  any  hand  in  the  revolution,  put  them  all  to  death 
one  after  another,  for  fear  they  should  one  day  attempt  a  se- 
cond revolution.  By  the  sacrifice  of  so  many  brave  men,  he 
weakened  the  strength  of  the  nation,  but  at  the  same  time 
established  his  throne,  at  least  for  some  years.  He  next  ap- 
plied himself  to  amass  riches,  and  was  the  first  of  the  Otto- 
man race  who  ventured  to  make  a  small  alteration  in  the 
current  coin,  and  to  impose  new  taxes ;  but  he  has  been 
obliged  to  stop  short  in  both  these  enterprises  for  fear  of  an 
insurrection.  The  rapacity  and  tyranny  of  the  grand  seignor 


150 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


are  seldom  extended  farther  than  the  officers  of  the  empire, 
who,  whatever  they  may  be  in  other  respects,  are  domestic 
slaves  to  the  sultan ;  while  the  rest  of  the  mussulmen  live  in 
profound  tranquillity,  without  fearing  for  their  lives,  their 
fortune,  or  their  liberty. 

Such  was  the  Turkish  emperor  in  whose  territories  the 
king  of  Sweden  sought  an  asylum.  As  soon  as  he  set  foot  in 
the  sultan's  dominions,  he  wrote  him  a  letter,  which  bears 
date  the  13th  of  July,  1709.  Several  copies  of  this  letter 
were  spread  abroad,  all  of  which  are  now  held  spurious ; 
but  of  all  those  I  have  seen,  there  is  not  one  which  does  not 
mark  the  haughtiness  of  the  author,  and  is  not  more  con- 
formable to  his  courage  than  his  situation.  The  sultan  did 
not  return  an  answer  till  toward  the  end  of  September.  The 
pride  of  the  Ottoman  Porte  made  Charles  sensible  of  the  dis- 
tinction it  placed  between  a  Turkish  emperor  and  a  king  of  part 
of  Scandinavia,  a  conquered  and  fugitive  Christian.  For  the 
"rest,  all  these  letters,  which  are  seldom  written  by  sovereigns 
themselves,  are  but  vain  formalities,  which  neither  discover 
the  character  of  the  princes,  nor  the  state  of  their  affairs. 

Charles  XII.  was  in  effect  in  no  other  situation  in  Turkey, 
than  that  of  a  captive,  honourably  treated ;  yet  he  conceived 
the  design  of  arming  the  Ottoman  empire  against  his  ene- 
mies, and  flattered  himself  that  he  should  reduce  Poland  un- 
der the  yoke,  and  subdue  Russia.  He  had  an  envoy  at  Con- 
stantinople ;  but  the  person  that  served  him  most  effectually 
in  his  vast  projects,  was  the  Count  de  Poniatowsky,  who 
went  to  Constantinople  without  any  commission,  and  soon 
rendered  himself  necessary  to  the  king,  agreeable  to  the 
Porte,  and,  at  last,  dangerous  to  the  grand  viziers  them- 
selves.* 

One  of  those  who  seconded  his  designs  with  the  greatest 
address,  was  the  physician  Fonseca,  a  Portuguese  Jew,  settled 
at  Constantinople,  a  man  of  knowledge  and  of  the  world, 

*  It  was  from  this  nobleman  I  received  not  only  the  remarks  which  had 
been  published,  and  of  which  the  chaplain  Norberg  hath  made  use,  but 
likewise  several  other  manuscripts  relating  to  this  history. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN.  151 

well  qualified  for  the  management  of  business,  and  perhaps 
the  only  philosopher  of  his  nation  :  his  profession  procured 
him  a  free  access  to  the  Ottoman  Porte,  and  frequently  gain- 
ed him  the  confidence  of  the  viziers.  With  this  gentleman  I 
was  very  well  acquainted  at  Paris,  who  confirmed  to  me  all  the 
particulars  I  am  going  to  relate.  Count  Poniatowsky  has 
informed  me,  both  by  letters  and  in  conversation,  that  he 
had  had  the  address  to  convey  some  letters  to  the  Sultana 
Valide,  the  mother  of  the  reigning  emperor,  who  had  for- 
merly been  ill  used  by  her  son,  but  now  began  to  acquire 
credit  in  the  seraglio.  A  Jewess,  who  was  often  admitted 
to  this  princess,  never  ceased  to  recount  to  her  the  exploits 
of  the  king  of  Sweden,  and  charmed  her  ear  by  these  rela- 
tions. The  Sultaness,  moved  by  that  secret  inclination  with 
which  most  women  feel  themselves  inspired,  in  favour  of 
extraordinary  men,  even  without  having  seen  them,  openly 
espoused  this  prince's  cause  in  the  seraglio,  whom  she  call- 
ed by  no  other  name  than  that  of  her  lion.  "  When  will 
you,"  would  she  sometimes  say  to  the  sultan,  her  son,  "  as- 
sist my  lion  to  devour  this  czar?"  She  even  so  far  dispensed 
with  the  austere  rules  of  the  seraglio,  as  to  write  several  let- 
ters with  her  own  hand  to  Count  Poniatowsky,  in  whose 
custody  they  still  are  at  the  time  of  my  writing  this  history. 

Meanwhile,  they  conducted  the  king  with  all  honour  to 
Bender,  through  the  desert  that  was  formerly  called  the  wil- 
derness of  the  Gatae.  The  Turks  took  care  that  nothing 
should  be  wanting  on  the  way  to  render  his  journey  agreea- 
ble. A  great  many  Poles,  Swedes,  and  Cossacks,  who  had 
escaped  from  the  Muscovites,  came  by  different  roads,  to  in- 
crease his  train  on  their  march.  By  the  time  he  reached 
Bender,  he  had  eighteen  hundred  men,  who  were  all  main- 
tained and  lodged,  they  and  their  horses,  at  the  expense  of 
the  grand  seignor. 

The  king  chose  to  encamp  near  Bender,  rather  than  lodge 
in  the  town.  The  seraskier,  Jussuff  Pacha,  caused  a  mag- 
nificent tent  to  be  erected  for  him  ;  and  tents  were  likewise 
provided  for  all  the  lords  of  his  retinue.    Some  time  after, 


152 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


Chailes  built  a  house  in  this  place  ;  the  officers  followed  his 
example,  and  the  soldiers  raised  barracks;  so  that  this  camp 
insensibly  became  a  little  town.  The  king  not  being  yet 
cured  of  his  wounds,  was  obliged  to  have  a  carious  bone  ex- 
tracted from  his  foot ;  but  as  he  could  mount  a  horse,  he  re- 
sumed his  usual  labours,  always  rising  before  the  sun,  tiring 
three  horses  a  day,  and  exercising  his  soldiers.  His  sole 
amusement  was  sometimes  playing  at  chess;  and  as  the  cha- 
racters of  men  are  often  discovered  by  the  most  trifling  inci- 
dents, it  may  not  be  improper  to  observe,  that  he  always  mo- 
ved the  king  in  his  game,  and  even  made  more  use  of  him 
than  of  the  other  pieces  ;  by  which  he  lost  every  party. 

At  Bender,  Charles  found  himself  amidst  an  abundance  of 
every  thing,  very  uncommon  to  a  conquered  and  fugitive  prince; 
for  besides  the  more  than  sufficient  quantity  of  provisions, 
and  the  five  hundred  crowns  a  day,  which  he  received  from 
the  Ottoman  munificence,  he  still  drew  money  from  France, 
and  borrowed  of  the  merchants  at  Constantinople.  A  part  of 
this  money  served  to  forward  his  intrigues  in  the  seraglio,  in 
buying  the  favours  of  the  viziers,  or  procuring  their  ruin. 
The  rest  he  distributed  with  great  profusion  among  his  offi- 
cers, and  the  Janissaries  who  composed  his  guards  at  Ben- 
der. Grothusen,  his  favourite  and  treasurer1,  was  the  dis- 
penser of  his  liberality  ;  a  man  who,  contrary  to  the  custom 
of  persons  in  that  station,  was  as  fond  of  giving  as  his  master. 
He  carried  him  one  day,  an  account  of  sixty  thousand  crowns 
in  two  lines ;  ten  thousand  crowns  given  to  the  Swedes  and 
Janissaries,  by  the  generous  orders  of  his  majesty,  and  the 
rest  spent  by  myself:  "It  is  thus  I  would  have  my  friends 
give  in  their  accounts,"  said  the  king  :  "Mullern  makes  me 
read  whole  pages  for  the  sum  of  ten  thousand  livres.  I  like 
the  laconic  stile  of  Grothusen  much  better."  One  of  his 
old  officers,  who  was  suspected  of  being  somewhat  covetous, 
complained  to  him  that  his  majesty  gave  all  to  Grothusen. 
"I  give  money,"  replies  the  king,  "to  none  but  those  who 
know  how  to  use  it."  This  generosity  frequently  reduced 
him  so  low,  that  he  had  not  wherewith  to  give.    More  eco- 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


153 


nomy  in  his  liberality  would  have  been  as  honourable,  and 
more  for  his  interest :  but  it  was  the  failing  of  this  prince, 
to  carry  every  virtue  to  excess. 

Great  numbers  of  strangers  went  from  Constantinopole  to 
see  him.  The  Turks  and  the  neighbouring  Tartars  came 
thither  in  crowds  ;  all  respected  and  admired  him.  His  in- 
flexible resolution  to  abstain  from  wine,  and  his  regularity  m 
assisting  twice  a  day  at  public  prayers,  made  them  say, 
"this  is  a  true  Mussulman:"  and  they  burned  with  impa 
tience  to  march  along  with  him  to  the  conquest  of  Muscovy. 

During  his  stay  at  Bender,  which  was  much  longer  than 
he  expected,  he  insensibly  acquired  a  taste  for  reading. 
Baron  Fabricius,  a  gentleman  of  the  duke  of  Holstein,  a 
young  man  of  an  amiable  character,  who  possessed  that 
gayety  of  temper,  and  easy  turn  of  wit,  which  is  so  agreea- 
ble to  princes,  was  the  person  who  engaged  him  in  these 
literary  amusements.  He  had  been  sent  to  reside  with  him  at 
Bender  to  take  care  of  the  interests  of  the  young  duke  of  Hol- 
stein ;  and  he  succeeded  therein  by  rendering  himself  agreea- 
ble. He  had  read  all  the  best  French  authors.  He  per- 
suaded the  king  to  read  the  tragedies  of  Peter  Corneille, 
those  of  Racine,  and  the  works  of  Despreaux.  The  king 
Had  no  relish  for  the  satires  of  the  last  author,  which  indeed 
are  far  from  being  his  best  pieces,  but  he  was  very  fond  of 
his  other  writings.  When  he  read  that  passage  of  the  eighth 
satire,  where  the  author  treats  Alexander  as  a  fool  and  a 
madman,  he  tore  the  leaf. 

Of  all  the  French  tragedies,  Mithridates  was  the  one  which 
pleased  him  most,  because  the  situation  of  that  monarch, 
vanquished  and  still  breathing  revenge,  was  conformable  to 
his  own.  He  showed  M.  Fabricius  the  passages  that  struck 
him,  pointing  them  out  with  his  ringer ;  but  would  never 
read  any  of  them  aloud,  nor  ever  hazard  a  single  word  in 
French.  Nay,  when  he  afterwards  saw  M.  des  Alleurs,  the 
French  ambassador  at  the  Porte,  a  man  of  distinguished 
merit,  but  acquainted  only  with  his  mother  tongue,  he  an- 
swered him  in  Latin;  of  which  when  M.  des  Alleurs  pro- 


154 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


tested  he  did  not  understand  four  words,  the  king,  rather 
than  talk  French,  sent  for  an  interpreter. 

This  was  the  employment  of  Charles  XII.  at  Bender, 
where  he  waited  till  a  Turkish  army  should  come  to  his  as- 
sistance. His  envoy  presented  memorials  in  his  name  to  the 
grand  vizier,  and  Poniatowsky  supported  them  with  all  his 
interest.  The  talent  of  insinuation  never  fails  of  success. 
He  was  always  dressed  in  the  Turkish  fashion,  and  had  free 
access  to  every  place.  The  grand  seignor  presented  hirn 
with  a  purse  of  a  thousand  ducats,  and  the  grand  vizier  said 
to  him,  "  I  will  take  your  king  in  one  hand,  and  a  sword  in 
the  other,  and  will  lead  him  to  Moscow  at  the  head  of  two 
hundred  thousand  men."  This  grand  vizier  was  called 
Chouilouli-Ali  Pacha;  he  was  the  son  of  a  peasant  of  the 
village  of  Chourlou.  Such  an  extraction  is  not  held  as  a 
reproach  among  the  Turks,  who  have  no  ranks  of  nobility, 
neither  that  which  is  annexed  to  certain  employments,  nor 
that  which  consists  in  titles.  With  ihem,  the  dignity  and 
importance  of  a  man's  character  depend  entirely  upon  his 
personal  services;  a  custom  which 'prevails  in  most  of  the 
eastern  countries,  and  indeed  a  custom  the  most  natural, 
and  which  might  be  productive  of  the  most  beneficial  effects, 
if  posts  of  honour  were  conferred  on  none  but  men  of  merit; 
but  the  viziers  for  the  most  part  are  no  better  than  the  crea- 
tures of  a  black  eunuch,  or  a  favourite  female  slave. 

The  first  minister  soon  changed  his  mind.  The  king 
could  do  nothing  but  negotiate  ;  but  the  czar  could  give 
money,  which  he  did  ;  and  even  made  the  money  of  Charles 
serve  him  on  this  occasion.  The  military  chest  which  he 
took  at  PuKowa  furnished  him  with  new  arms  against  the 
vanquished  king ;  and  it  was  no  longer  the  question  at 
court,  whether  war  should  be  made  upon  the  Russians.  The 
interest  of  the  czar  was  all  powerful  at  the  Porte,  which 
granted  such  honours  to  his  envoy  as  the  Muscovite  ministers 
had  never  before  enjoyed  at  Constantinople.  He  was  al- 
lowed to  have  a  seraglio,  that  is  to  say,  a  palace  in  the  quar- 
ter of  the  Franks,  and  the  liberty  of  conversing  with  other 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


155 


foreign  ministers.  The  czar  even  thought  he  might  demand 
that  General  Mazeppa  should  be  put  into  his  hands,  as 
Charles  had  caused  the  unhappy  Patkul  to  be  delivered  up 
to  him.  Chourlouli-Ali  Pacha  knew  not  how  to  refuse  any 
thing  to  a  prince  who  made  his  demands  with  millions  in 
his  hand.  Thus  the  very  same  grand  vizier  who  had  before 
promised  in  the  most  solemn  manner  to  lead  the  king  of 
Sweden  into  Muscovy  with  two  hundred  thousand  men, 
dared  to  propose  to  h\m  to  consent  to  the  sacrifice  of  Gene- 
ral Mazeppa.  Charles  was  enraged  at  this  demand.  It  is 
hard  to  say  how  far  the  vizier  might  have  pushed  the  affair, 
had  not  Mazeppa,  who  was  now  seventy  years  of  age,  died 
exactly  at  this  juncture.  The  grief  and  indignation  of  the 
king  were  greatly  augmented,  when  he  learned,  that  Tolstoy, 
now  become  the  czar's  ambassador  at  the  Porte,  was  public- 
ly attended  by  the  Swedes  that  had  been  made  slaves  at  Pul- 
towa,  and  that  those  brave  soldiers  were  every  day  exposed 
to  sale  in  the  market  at  Constantinople.  Nay,  the  Russian 
ambassador  said  aloud,  that  the  Mussulman  troops  at  Ben- 
der were  placed  there  more  with  a  view  to  secure  the  king's 
person  than  to  do  him  any  honour. 

Charles,  abandoned  by  the  grand  vizier,  and  vanquished 
by  the  czar's  money  in  Turkey,  as  he  had  before  been  by  his 
arms  in  the  Ukraine,  saw  himself  deceived  and  despised  by 
the  Porte,  and  almost  a  prisoner  among  the  Tartars.  His  at- 
tendants began  to  despair.  He  himself  alone  remained  firm, 
and  never  appeared  dejected  even  for  a  moment.  The  sul- 
tan he  believed  to  be  ignorant  of  the  intrigues  of  Chour- 
louli-Ali, his  grand  vizier;  he  resolved,  therefore,  to  acquaint 
him  with  them,  and  Poniatowsky  took  the  charge  of  this 
hazardous  enterprise.  The  grand  seignor  goes  every  Frida^ 
to  the  mosque,  surrounded  by  his  solaks,  a  kind  of  guards, 
whose  turbans  are  ornamented  with  such  high  feathers  that 
they  conceal  the  sultan  from  the  sight  of  the  people.  When 
any  one  has  a  petition  to  present  to  the  grand  seignor,  he 
endeavours  to  mingle  with  the  guards,  and  holds  the  petition 
aloft.    Sometimes  the  sultan  deigns  to  receive  it  -himself ; 


156 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


but  he  oftener  orders  an  aga  to  take  charge  of  it,  and  has  the 
petitions  brought  to  him  on  his  return  from  the  mosque. 
There  is  no  fear  of  any  one  daring  to  importune  him  with 
useless  memorials  and  trifling  petitions,  as  less  is  written  at 
Constantinople  in  a  whole  year,  than  they  do  at  Paris  in  one 
day.  There  is  still  less  danger  of  any  memorials  being  pre- 
sented against  the  ministers,  to  whom  the  sultan  often  sends 
them  without  reading.  Poniatowsky  had  only  this  method 
to  convey  the  king  of  Sweden's  complaints  to  the  grand 
seignor.  He  drew  up  a  heavy  charge  against  the  grand  vi- 
zier. M.  de  Feriol,  then  the  French  ambassador,  and  who 
gave  me  an  account  of  the  whole  affair,  had  the  memorial 
translated  into  the  Turkish  tongue.  A  Greek  was  hired  to 
present  it.  This  Greek,  having  mingled  with  the  guards  of 
the  grand  seignor,  held  the  paper  so  high  for  a  long  time, 
and  made  such  a  noise,  that  the  sultan  observed  him,  and 
took  the  memorial  himself. 

This  method  of  presenting  memorials  to  the  sultan  against 
his  viziers,  was  frequently  employed.  A  Swede  called  Le- 
loing,  gave  in  another  petition  a  few  days  after.  Thus,  in 
the  Turkish  empire,  was  Charles  XII.  reduced  to  the  neces- 
sity of  employing  the  same  expedients  with  an  oppressed 
subject. 

Some  days  after  this,  the  sultan  sent  the  king  of  Sweden, 
as  the  only  answer  to  his  complaints,  five-and-twenty  Ara- 
bian horses,  one  of  which,  that  had  carried  his  highness, 
was  covered  with  a  saddle  and  housing  enriched  with  precious 
stones,  with  stirrups  of  massy  gold.  This  present  was  ac- 
companied with  an  obliging  letter,  but  conceived  in  general 
terms,  and  such  as  gave  reason  to  suspect  that  the  minister 
had  done  nothing  without  the  sultan's  consent.  C^hourlouli- 
Ali,  too,  who  knew  the  art  of  dissembling,  sent  the  king  five 
very  curious  horses.  But  Charles,  with  a  lofty  air,  said 
to  the  person  who  brought  them,  "  return  to  your  master, 
and  tell  him  I  never  receive  a  present  from  an  enemy." 

Poniatowsky  having  already  dared  to  present  a  memorial 
against  the  grand  vizier,  next  formed  the  bold  design  of 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


157 


deposing  hira.  He  knew  that  this  vizier  was  disa- 
greeable to  the  sultana-mother,  that  Kislar-Aga,  the  chief 
of  the  black  eunuchs,  and  the  aga  of  the  janissaries,  also 
hated  him ;  he  therefore  prompted  them  all  three  to  speak 
against  him.  It  was  something  very  surprising  to  see  a 
christian,  a  Pole,  an  uncommissioned  agent  of  the  king  of 
Sweden,  who  had  taken  refuge  among  the  Turks,  caballing 
almost  openly  at  the  Porte,  against  a  viceroy  of  the  Ottoman 
empire,  who,  at  the  same  time,  was  both  an  able  minister 
and  a  favourite  of  his  master.  Poniatowsky  could  never 
have  succeeded,  and  the  idea  of  such  a  project  alone  wrould 
have  cost  him  his  life,  if  a  power  superior  to  all  those  that 
operated  in  his  favour,  had  not  given  a  finishing  stroke  to 
the  fortune  of  the  grand  vizier  Chourlouli. 

The  sultan  had  a  young  favourite,  who  afterwards  govern- 
ed the  Ottoman  empire,  and  was  killed  in  Hungary  in  1716, 
at  the  battle  of  Peterwaradin,  gained  over  the  Turks  by 
Prince  Eugene  of  Savoy.  His  name  was  Coumourgi-Ali 
Pacha.  His  birth  was  very  little  different  from  that  of 
Chourlouli,  being  the  son  of  a  coal-heaver,  as  Coumourgi 
signifies,  coumour  in  the  Turkish  language  signifying  coal. 
The  emperor  Achmet  II.  uncle  of  Achmet  III.  having  met 
Coumourgi,  while  yet  an  infant,  in  a  little  wood  near  Adria- 
nople,  was  struck  with  his  extreme  beauty,  and  caused  him 
to  be  conducted  to  the  seraglio.  He  was  beloved  by  Mus- 
tapha,  the  eldest  son  and  successor  of  Mahomet;  and  Ach- 
met III.  made  him  his  favourite.  He  had  then  no  other 
place  but  that  of  selictar-aga,  sword-bearer  of  the  crown.  His 
extreme  youth  did  not  allow  him  to.  pretend  to  the  post  of 
grand  vizier,  but  yet  he  had  the  ambition  to  aspire  to  it. 
The  Swedish  faction  could  never  win  the  affections  of  this 
favourite.  He  was  never  the  friend  of  Charles,  nor  of  any 
other  christian  prince,  nor  of  any  of  their  ministers,  but  on 
this  occasion  he  served  the  king  without  intending  it;  he 
united  himself  with  the  Sultaness  Valide,  and  the  great  of- 
ficers of  the  Porte,  to  depose  Chourlouli,  whom  they  all  ha- 
ted.   This  old  minister,  who  had  long  and  faithfully  served 

14 


158 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


his  master,  fell  a  victim  to  the  caprice  of  a  boy,  and  the  in 
trigues  of  a  foreigner.  He  was  stripped  of  his  dignity  and 
riches ;  his  wife,  the  daughter  of  the  late  Sultan  Mustapha, 
was  also  taken  from  him  ;  and  himself  was  banished  to 
Caffa,  formerly  called  Theodosia,  in  Crim  Tartary.  The  bull, 
that  is  to  say,  the  seal  of  the  empire,  was  given  to  Numa 
Couprougli,  grandson  of  the  great  Couprougli,  who  took 
Candia.  This  new  vizier  was,  what  ill-informed  Christians 
can  hardly  believe  it  possible  for  a  Turk  to  be,  a  man  of  in- 
flexible virtue,  a  scrupulous  observer  of  the  law,  and  one 
who  frequently  opposed  justice  to  the  will  of  the  Sultan. 
He  could  not  endure  to  hear  of  a  war  against  Muscovy, 
which  he  treated  as  unjust  and  unnecessary;  but  the  same  at- 
tachment to  his  law  that  prevented  his  making  war  upon  the 
czar  contrary  to  the  faith  of  treaties,  made  him  respect  the 
duties  of  hospitality  toward  the  king  of  Sweden.  He  would 
say  to  his  master,  "  The  law  forbids  you  to  attack  the  czar, 
who  has  not  offended  you ;  but  it  commands  you  to  succour 
the  king  of  Sweden,  who  is  an  unfortunate  prince  in  your 
dominions."  To  this  prince  he  sent  eight  hundred  purses ; 
(every  purse  containing  five  hundred  crowns)  and  advised 
him  to  return  peaceably  to  his  own  dominions,  either  through 
the  territories  of  the  emperor  of  Germany,  or  in  some  of  the 
French  vessels,  which  were  then  in  the  port  of  Constantino- 
ple, and  which  M.  de  Feriol,  the  French  ambassador  at  the 
Porte,  offered  to  Charles  to  conduct  him  to  Marseilles. 
Count  Poniatowsky  negotiated  more  than  ever  with  this  mi- 
nister, and  acquired  such  a  superiority  in  these  negotiations 
with  an  incorruptible  vizier,  as  the  gold  of  the  Muscovites 
was  unable  to  dispute.  The  Russian  faction  thought  their 
best  resource  was  to  poison  such  a  dangerous  negotiator. 
They  accordingly  won  over  one  of  his  domestics,  who  was 
to  give  him  the  poison  in  a  dish  of  coffee ;  but  the  crime 
was  discovered  before  it  was  carried  into  execution ;  the 
poison  was  found  in  the  hands  of  the  domestic,  contained 
in  a  small  vial,  which  was  carried  to  the  grand  seignor. 
The  prisoner  was  tried  in  a  full  divan,  and  condemned  to 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


159 


tbe  gallies;  for  the  justice  of  the  Turks  never  punishes 
with  death  those  crimes  which  have  not  been  executed. 

Charles  XII.,  who  could  never  be  persuaded  but  that, 
sooner  or  later,  he  should  be  able  to  engage  the  Turkish 
empire  in  a  war  against  Muscovy,  rejected  every  proposal 
which  was  held  out  for  his  peaceable  return  home ;  and 
never  ceased  to  represent  to  the  Turks  the  formidable  power 
of  that  very  czar  whom  he  had  so  long  despised ;  his  emis- 
saries were  perpetually  insinuating  that  Peter  Alexiowitz 
wanted  to  make  himself  master  of  the  navigation  of  the 
Black  Sea ;  and  that  after  having  subdued  the  Cossacks,  he 
would  carry  his  arms  into  Ciira  T'artary.  Sometimes  these 
representations  animated  the  Porte,  at  others  the  Russian 
ministers  rendered  them  of  no  avail. 

While  Charles  XII.  suffered  his  fate  to  depend  upon  the 
caprice  of  viziers,  and  while  he  was  alternately  receiving 
favours  and  affronts  from  a  foreign  power,  presenting  peti- 
tions to  the  sultan,  and  subsisting  upon  his  bounty  in  a  de- 
sert, all  his  enemies,  awakened  from  their  former  lethargy, 
invaded  his  dominions. 

The  battle  of  Pultowa  was  the  first  signal  to  a  revolution 
in  Poland.  King  Augustus  returned  to  that  country,  pro- 
testing against  his  abdication,  and  the  peace  of  Altranstad, 
and  publicly  accusing  Charles,  whom  he  no  longer  feared, 
of  robbery  and  cruelty.  He  immediately  imprisoned  Fing- 
stein  and  ImhofF,  his  plenipotentiaries,  who  had  signed  his 
abdication,  as  if  in  so  doing  they  had  exceeded  their  orders, 
and  betrayed  their  master.  His  Saxon  troops,  which  had 
been  the  pretext  of  his  dethronement,  conducted  him  back 
to  Warsaw,  accompanied  by  most  of  the  Polish  palatines, 
who  had  formerly  sworn  fidelity  to  him,  and  had  afterwards 
taken  the  same  oath  to  Stanislaus,  and  now  come  to  do  it 
again  to  Augustus.  Siniausky  himself  rejoined  his  party, 
and,  having  lost  the  idea  of  becoming  king,  was  content  to 
remain  grand-general  of  the  crown.  Fleming,  his  first 
minister,  who  had  been  obliged  to  quit  Saxony,  for  a  time, 
for  fear  of  being  delivered  up  with  Patkul,  now  contributed 


160 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


by  his  address,  to  bring  back  to  his  master's  interest  a  great 
part  of  the  Polish  nobility. 

The  pope  absolved  the  people  from  the  oath  of  allegiance 
which  they  had  taken  to  Stanislaus.  This  step  of  the  Holy 
Father  was  exceedingly  apropos,  and,  supported  by  the  forces 
of  Augustus,  was  of  considerable  weight :  it  strengthened  the 
credit  of  the  court  of  Rome  in  Poland,  who  had  no  inclina- 
tion at  that  time  to  contest  with  the  sovereign  pontiff  their 
chimerical  right  of  interfering  in  the  temporal  concerns  of 
princes.  Every  one  voluntarily  returned  to  the  government 
of  Augustus,  and  received,  without  repugnance,  a  useless  ab- 
solution, which  the  nuncio  did  not  fail  to  represent  as  abso- 
lutely necessary. 

The  power  of  Charles  and  the  grandeur  of  Sweden  were 
now  drawing  toward  their  last  period.  More  than  ten 
crowned  heads  had  long  beheld,  with  fear  and  envy,  the 
Swedish  power  extending  itself  far  beyond  its  natural 
bounds,  on  the  other  side  of  the  Baltic  sea,  from  the  Duna 
to  the  Elbe.  '  The  fall  of  Charles,  and  his  absence,  revived 
the  interested  views  and  jealousies  of  all  these  princes, 
which  had  for  a  long  time  been  laid  asleep  by  treaties,  and 
by  their  inability  to  break  them. 

The  czar,  more  powerful  than  all  of  them  put  together, 
profited  by  his  late  victory  :  he  took  Wibourg  and  all  Care- 
lia,  overrun  Finland  with  troops,  hud  siege  to  Riga,  and  sent 
a  body  of  forces  into  Poland  to  aid  Augustus  in  recovering 
his  throne.  This  emperor  was  at  that  time  what  Charles 
had  been  formerly,  the  arbiter  of  Poland  and  the  North ; 
but  he  consulted  only  his  interest,  while,  on  the  other  hand, 
Charles  had  never  hearkened  to  any  thing  but  his  ideas  of 
revenge  and  glory.  The  Swedish  monarch  had  succoured 
his  allies  and  destroyed  his  enemies,  without  reaping  the 
least  fruit  from  his  victories  ;  the  czar,  conducting  himself 
more  like  a  prince,  and  less  like  a  hero,  would  not  assist  the 
king  of  Poland  but  on  condition  that  Livonia  should  be 
ceded  to  him ;  and  that  that  province,  for  which  Augustus 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


161 


had  kindled  the  war,  should  remain  for  ever  in  the  posses- 
sion of  the  Muscovites. 

The  king  of  Denmark,  forgetting  the  treaty  of  Travendal, 
as  Augustus  had  that  of  Altranstad,  began  from  that  time  to 
think  of  making  himself  master  of  the  duchies  of  Holstein 
and  Bremen,  to  which  he  renewed  his  pretensions.  The 
king  of  Prussia  had  ancient  claims  upon  Swedish  Pomera- 
nia,  which  he  now  resolved  to  revive.  The  duke  of  Meck- 
lenburgh  saw  with  envy  that  the  Swedes  were  still  in  pos- 
session of  Wismar,  the  finest  town  in  the  duchy ;  that  prince 
was  to  marry  a  niece  of  the  Russian  emperor ;  and  the  czar 
wanted  only  a  pretext  for  establishing  himself  in  Germany, 
after  the  example  of  the  Swedes.  George,  elector  of  Hano- 
ver, sought  to  enrich  himself,  on  his  side,  with  the  spoils  of 
Charles.  The  bishop  of  Munster,  too,  would  have  been 
willing  enough  to  avail  himself  6f  some  of  his  claims,  had 
he  been  able  to  support  them. 

Twelve  or  thirteen  thousand  Swedes  defended  Pomera- 
nia,  and  the  other  countries  which  Charles  possessed  in 
Germany ;  it  was  there  that  the  war  was  most  likely  to  be- 
gin. This  storm  alarmed  the  emperor  and  his  allies.  It  is 
a  law  of  the  empire,  that  whoever  invades  one  of  its  pro- 
vinces, shall  be  reputed  an  enemy  to  the  whole  Germanic 
body. 

But  there  was  still  a  greater  embarrassment;  all  these 
princes  except  the  czar  were  then  united  against  Louis  XIV. 
whose  power,  for  a  long  time,  had  been  as  formidable  to  the 
empire  as  that  of  Charles. 

Germany,  at  the  beginning  of  this  century,  had  found  it- 
self hard  pressed  from  south  to  north,  between  the  armies  of 
France  and  Sweden.  The  French  had  passed  the  Danube, 
and  the  Swedes  the  Oder,  and  had  their  forces,  victorious 
as  they  then  were,  been  joined  together,  the  empire  had 
been  undone.  But  the  same  fatality  that  ruined  Sweden, 
had  likewise  humbled  France  :  Sweden,  however,  had  still 
resources  left ;  and  Louis  carried  on  the  war  with  vigour3 


162  HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 

though  without  success.  Had  Pomerania  and  the  duchy  of 
Bremen  become  the  theatre  of  war,  it  was  to  be  feared  that 
the  empire  would  suffer  by  it;  and  that  being  weakened  on 
that  side,  it  would  be  less  able  to  stand  against  Louis  XIV. 
To  prevent  this  danger,  the  emperor,  the  princes  of  the  em- 
pire, Anne,  queen  of  England,  and  the  states  general  of  the 
United  Provinces,  concluded  at  the  end  of  the  year  1709, 
one  of  the  most  singular  treaties  that  ever  was  signed. 

It  was  stipulated  by  these  powers,  that  the  war  against  the 
Swedes  should  not  be  made  in  Pomerania,  nor  in  any  other 
of  the  German  provinces,  but  that  the  enemies  of  Charles 
XII.  should  be  at  liberty  to  attack  him  any  where  else.  The 
czar  and  the  king  of  Poland  acceded  to  this  treaty,  in  which 
they  caused  to  be  inserted  an  article  as  extraordinary  as  the 
treaty  itself;  this  was,  that  the  twelve  thousand  Swedes  who 
were  in  Pomerania,  should  not  be  permitted  to  leave  it  to 
defend  their  other  provinces. 

To  secure  the  execution  of  the  treaty,  they  proposed  to 
raise  an  army  to  preserve  this  imaginary  neutrality.  This 
army  was  to  encamp  on  the  banks  of  the  Oder.  An  unheard 
of  novelty,  surely,  to  raise  an  army  to  prevent  a  war  !  Even 
the  princes  who  were  to  pay  the  army,  were  most  of  them 
interested  in  beginning  a  war  which  they  thus  pretended  to 
prevent.  The  treaty  also  imported,  that  the  army  should  be 
composed  of  the  troops  of  the  emperor,  of  the  king  of  Prus- 
sia, of  the  elector  of  Hanover,  of  the  landgrave  of  Hesse, 
and  of  the  bishop  of  Munster. 

The  issue  of  this  project  was  such  as  might  naturally  have 
been  expected ;  it  was  not  carried  into  execution.  The 
princes  who  were  to  have  furnished  their  contingents  for 
completing  the  army,  contributed  nothing :  there  were  not 
two  regiments  formed.  Every  body  talked  of  a  neutrality, 
but  nobody  observed  it ;  and  all  the  princes  of  the  north, 
who  had  any  interest  in  quarrelling  with  the  king  of  Sweden, 
were  left  at  full  liberty  to  dispute  with  each  other  the  spoils 
of  that  prince. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


163 


At  this  juncture,  the  czar,  after  having  quartered  his  troops 
in  Lithuania,  and  having  giv  en  orders  for  the  siege  of  Riga, 
returned  to  Moscow,  to  display  to  his  people  a  sight  as  new 
as  any  thing  he  had  hitherto  done  in  the  kingdom  :  this  was 
a  triumph  of  nearly  the  same  nature  with  that  of  the  ancient 
Romans.  He  made  his  entry  into  Moscow  on  the  first  of 
January,  1710,  under  seven  triumphal  arches,  erected  in  the 
streets,  and  adorned  with  every  thing  which  the  climate  could 
furnish,  or  which  a  flourishing  commerce,  rendered  such  by 
his  care,  could  produce.  A  regiment  of  guards  began  the 
procession,  followed  by  the  pieces  of  artillery  taken  from  the 
Swedes  at  Lasno  and  Pultowa,  each  being  drawn  by  eight 
horses,  covered  with  scarlet  housings  hanging  down  to  the 
ground;  then  came  the  standards,  kettle-drums,  and  colours, 
won  at  those  two  battles,  carried  by  the  very  officers  and 
soldiers  who  had  taken  them ;  and  all  the  spoils  were  fol- 
lowed by  the  choicest  troops  of  the  czar.  After  they  had 
filed  off,  there  appeared  in  a»  chariot,  made  on  purpose,*  the 
litter  of  Charles  XII.  found  on  the  field  of  battle  at  Pul- 
towa, all  shattered  with  two  cannon  shot :  behind  this  litter 
marched  all  the  prisoners  two  and  two  :  amongst  them  ap- 
peared Count  Piper,  first  minister  of  Sweden,  the  celebrated 
Mareschal  Renschild,  the  Count  de  Lewenhaupt,  the  Gene- 
rals Slidenback,  Stackelberg,  and  Hamilton,  and  all  the  of- 
ficers who  were  afterwards  dispersed  through  Great  Russia. 
Immediately  after  these,  appeared  the  czar  himself,  mount- 
ed on  the  same  horse  which  he  rode  at  the  battle  of  Pulto- 
wa. A  little  after  him  came  the  generals  who  had  had  a 
share  in  the  success  of  the  day.  Then  followed  another  re- 
giment of  guards  ;  and  the  wagons  loaded  with  the  Swedish 
ammunition,  closed  the  whole. 

This  pageantry  was  accompanied  with  the  ringing  of  all 
the  bells  in  Moscow,  with  the  sound  of  drums,  kettle-drums, 

•Mr.  Norberg,  confessor  of  Charles  XII.,  here  corrects  the  author,  and 
affirms  that  the  litter  was  carried  by  the  soldiers.  For  the  truth  of  thesa 
essential,  circumstances,  we  refer  to  those  who  saw  them* 


164 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


trumpets;  and  an  infinite  number  of  musical  instruments 
were  heard,  alternately  with  the  salute  of  two  hundred  pieces 
of  cannon,  and  the  acclamations  of  five  hundred  thousand 
men,  who,  at  every  pause  the  czar  made  in  this  triumphal 
entry,  cried  out,  "  long  live  the  emperor  our  father." 

This  dazzling  exhibition  augmented  the  people's  veneration 
for  his  person,  and  perhaps  made  him  appear  greater  in  their 
eyes  than  the  real  advantages  they  had  derived  from  him. 
Meanwhile  he  continued  the  blockade  of  Riga.  His  gene- 
rals made  themselves  masters  of  the  rest  of  Livonia,  and  part 
of  Finland.  At  the  same  time  the  king  of  Denmark  came 
with  his  whole  fleet  to  make  a  descent  upon  Sweden,  where 
he  landed  seventeen  thousand  men,  whom  he  left  under  the 
command  of  the  Count  de  Reventlau. 

Sweden  was  at  that  time  governed  by  a  regency  compo- 
sed of  several  senators,  whom  the  king  appointed  when  he 
departed  from  Stockholm.  The  body  of  the  senate  looking 
upon  the  government  as  their  right,  became  jealous  of  the 
regency.  The  state  suffered  by  these  divisions  :  but  when; 
after  the  battle  of  Pultowa,  the  first  news  they  heard  at 
Stockholm  was,  that  the  king  was  at  Bender,  at  the  mercy 
of  the  Turks  and  Tartars,  and  that  the  Danes  had  disembark- 
ed in  Schonen,  and  had  taken  the  town  of  Helsimburgh,  their 
jealousies  then  vanished,  and  they  turned  their  whole  attention 
to  the  preservation  of  Sweden.  Sweden  was  now  drained,  in 
a  great  measure,  of  regular  troops  ;  for  though  Charles  had 
always  made  his  great  expeditions  at  the  head  of  small  ar- 
mies, yet  the  innumerable  battles  he  had  fought  in  the  space 
of  nine  years,  the  necessity  he  was  under  of  continually  re- 
cruiting his  forces,  the  maintaining  his  garrisons,  and  the 
standing  army  he  was  constantly  obliged  to  keep  in  Finland, 
Ingria,  Livonia,  Pomerania,  Bremen,  and  Verdun,  had  cost 
Sweden,  during  the  course  of  the  war,  above  two  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand  men ;  so  that  there  did  not  remain  eight 
thousand  of  the  ancient  troops,  which,  with  the  new  raised 
militia,  were  the  only  resources  Sweden  had. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


165 


The  nation  is  naturally  warlike ;  and  every  people  insen- 
sibly adopts  the  disposition  of  its  king.  They  talked  of  no- 
thing from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other,  but  the  pro- 
1  digious  achievements  of  Charles  and  his  generals,  and  of  the 
old  regiments  that  fought  under  them  at  Narva,  Duna,  Clis- 
sau,  Pultusk,  and  Hollosin.  The  lowest  of  the  Swedes  ac- 
quired from  them  a  spirit  of  emulation  and  glory.  Their  af- 
fection for  their  king,  their  pity  for  his  misfortunes,  and  their 
implacable  hatred  to  the  Danes,  contributed  to  increase  this 
ardour.  In  several  other  countries  the  peasants  are  slaves,  or 
treated  as  such ;  but  here  they  compose  a  part  of  the  state, 
are  considered  as  citizens,  and,  of  consequence,  are  capable 
of  more  refined  sentiments  ;  so  that  this  new  raised  militia 
became,  in  a  short  time,  the  best  troops  of  the  north. 

General  Steinbock  put  himself,  by  order  of  the  regency, 
at  the  head  of  eight  thousand  of  the  ancient  troops,  and  about 
twelve  thousand  of  these  new  militia,  to  go  in  pursuit  of  the 
Danes,  who  ravaged  all  the  country  about  Helsimburgh,  and 
had  already  laid  contributions  on  some  of  the  more  inland 
provinces. 

There  was  neither  time  nor  opportunity  to  give' clothing 
to  the  new  militia,  so  that  most  of  these  boors  came  in  their 
coarse  linen  frocks,  having  pistols  tied  to  their  girdles  with 
cords.  Steinbock,  at  the  head  of  this  extraordinary  army, 
overtook  the  Danes  about  three  leagues  from  Helsimburgh 
on  the  10th  of  March,  1710.  He  wished  to  have  given  his 
troops  a  few  days  rest,  to  raise  intrenchments,  and  to  allow 
his  new  soldiers  a  sufficient  time  to  accustom  themselves  to 
behold  the  enemy ;  but  all  the  peasants  called  out  for  battle 
the  very  day  they  arrived. 

Several  of  the  officers  then  present,  have  since  assured  me 
that  they  saw  every  soldier  foaming  with  rage  and  choler,  so 
great  is  the  national  hatred  of  the  Swedes  to  the  Danes.  Stein- 
bock profited  by  this  ardour  of  their  minds,  which  in  the  day 
of  battle,  is  of  <as  much  consequence  as  military  discipline, 
and  attacked  the  Danes.    A  circumstance  was  now  display- 


166 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XIT. 


ed  of  which,  perhaps,  the  whole  history  of  mankind  cannot 
furnish  above  two  examples  :  the  new  raised  militia,  in  their 
first  assault,  equalled  the  intrepidity  of  veteran  soldiers.  Two 
regiments  of  these  ill  armed  peasants  cut  in  pieces  the  regi- 
ment of  the  king  of  Denmark's  guards,  of  which  there  re- 
mained only  ten  men  alive. 

The  Danes,  entirely  defeated,  retired  under  the  cannon 
of  Helsimburgh.  The  passage. from  Sweden  to  Zealand  is 
so  short,  that  the  king  of  Denmark  received  the  news  at 
Copenhagen  of  the  defeat  of  his  army  in  Sweden  the  very 
same  day  on  which  it  happened,  and  sent  his  fleet  to  bring 
off  the  shattered  remains  of  his  army.  The  Danes  quitted 
Sweden  with  precipitation  five  days  after  the  battle ;  but 
being  unable  to  carry  off  their  horses,  and  unwilling  to  leave 
them  to  the  enemy,  they  killed  them  all  in  the  environs  of 
Helsimburgh,  and  set  fire  to  their  provisions,  burning  their 
corn  and  baggage,  and  leaving  in  Helsimburgh  four  thou- 
sand wounded  men,  of  whom  the  greatest  part  died  with  the 
infection  occasioned  by  so  many  dead  horses,  and  for  want 
of  provisions,  of  which  even  their  countrymen  deprived 
them,  to  prevent  the  Swedes  from  enjoying  it. 

At  the  same  time,  the  peasants  of  Delecarlia,  having  in 
the  depths  of  their  forests  heard  the  report  of  their  king's 
being  a  prisoner  among  the  Turks,  sent  a  deputation  to  the 
regency  of  Stockholm,  and  offered  to  go  at  their  own  ex- 
pense, to  the  number  of  twenty  thousand,  and  deliver  their 
master  from  the  hands  of  his  enemies.  This  proposal, 
which  was  better  calculated  to  display  their  courage  and  af- 
fection to  their  king  than  to  produce  any  real  advantage, 
was  received  with  pleasure,  though  it  was  not  accepted ;  and 
the  senators  took  care  to  acquaint  the  king  with  it,  at  the 
same  time  that  they  sent  him  an  account  of  the  battle  of 
Helsimburgh. 

Charles  received  this  pleasing  news  in  his  carnp  near 
Bender  in  the  month  of  July,  1710  ;  and  a  little  time  after 
another  event  happened  which  contributed  still  more  to 
strengthen  his  hopes. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


167 


The  grand  vizier  Couprougli,  who  opposed  all  his  designs, 
was  deposed  about  two  months  after  he  had  entered  into  his 
office.  The  little  court  of  Charles  XII.  and  those  who  still 
adhered  to  him  in  Poland,  gave  out  that  Charles  made  and 
unmade  the  viziers,  and  governed  the  Turkish  empire  from 
his  retreat  at  Bender ;  but  he  had  no  share  in  the  disgrace 
of  that  favourite.  The  rigid  probity  of  the  vizier  is  said  to 
have  been  the  sole  cause  of  his  fall.  His  predecessor  had 
not  paid  the  janissaries  out  of  the  imperial  treasury,  but  with 
the  money  he  had  raised  by  extortion  :  Couprougli  paid 
them  out  of  the  treasury.  Achmet  reproached  him  with 
preferring  the  interest  of  the  subject  to  that  of  the  emperor  : 
"Your  predecessor,  Chourlouli,"  said  he,  "  knew  how  to 
find  other  means  to  pay  my  troops."  "  If,"  replied  the 
grand  vizier,  "  he  had  the  art  of  enriching  your  highness  by 
rapine,  it  is  an  art  of  which  I  glory  in  being  ignorant." 

The  profound  secrecy  observed  in  the  seraglio  seldom 
permits  such  particulars  to  transpire  to  the  public ;  but  this 
fact  was  published  at  the  same  time  with  Couprougli's  dis- 
grace. This  vizier's  boldness,  however,  did  not  cost  him 
his  head,  because  true  virtue  can  frequently  cause  itself  to 
be  respected,  even  by  those  whom  it  offends.  He  was  per- 
mitted to  retire  to  the  island  of  Negropont.  These  particu- 
lars I  learned  from  the  letters  of  M.  Bru,  my  relation,  first 
interpreter  to  the  Ottomon  Porte,  and  I  have  related  them 
in  order  to  display  the  true  spirit  of  that  government. 

After  this,  the  grand  seignor  recalled  from  Aleppo  Baltagi 
Mehemet,  Pacha  of  Syria,  who  had  been  grand  vizier  be- 
fore Chourlouli.  The  Baitarjis  of  the  seraglio,  so  called 
from  Balta,  which  signifies  an  axe,  are  slaves  employed  to 
cut  wood  for  the  use  of  the  princes  of  the  Ottoman  blood 
and  the  sultans.  This  vizier  had  been  a  Baltagi  in  his 
youth,  and  had  ever  since  retained  the  name  of  that  office, 
according  to  the  custom  of  the  Turks,  who  take  without 
blush-,  the  name  of  their  first  profession,  or  that  of  their  fa- 
ther, or  even  the  place  of  their  birth. 


168  HISTORY  OF  CHAKLES  XII. 

At  the  time  Baltagi  Mehemet  was  a  slave  in  the  seraglio, 
he  was  so  happy  as  to  do  several  little  services  to  Prince 
Achmet,  who  was  then  a  prisoner  of  state  in  the  reign  of 
his  brother  Mustapha.  It  is  permitted  the  princes  of  Otto- 
man blood  to  keep  for  their  pleasure  a  few  women  who  are 
past  the  age  of  child  bearing,  (an  age  that  arrives  very  early 
in  Turkey,)  but  still  handsome  enough  to  please.  As  soon 
as  Achmet  became  sultan,  he  gave  one  of  these  female  slaves, 
whom  he  had  ardently  loved,  in  marriage  to  Baltagi  Mehemet 
This  woman,  by  her  intrigues,  made  her  husband  grand  vi- 
zier ;  another  intrigue  displaced  him  ;  and  a  third  made  him 
grand  vizier  again. 

When  Baltagi  Mehemet  came  to  receive  the  bull  of  the 
empire,  he  found  the  party  of  the  king  of  Sweden  prevailing 
in  the  seraglio.  The  Sultaness  Valide,  Ali-Coumourgi,  the 
favourite  of  the  grand  seignor,  the  Kislar-Aga,  chief  of  the 
black  eunuchs,  and  the  aga  of  the  janissaries,  inclined  to  a 
war  with  the  czar :  the  sultan  was  determined  in  the  same 
resolution  ;  and  the  first  order  he  gave  the  grand  vizier  was 
to  go  and  attack  the  Muscovites  with  two  hundred  thousand 
men.  Baltagi  Mehemet  hal  never  made  a  campaign,  yet 
he  was  not  the  idiot  that  Swedish  malcontents  have  repre- 
sented him.  He  said  to  the  grand  seignor,  upon  receiving  a 
sabre  from  him,  adorned  with  precious  stones,  "your  high- 
ness knows  that  I  was  brought  up  to  handle  an  axe  to  cleave 
wood,  and  not  a  sword  to  command  your  armies  :  I  will,  not- 
withstanding, do  my  best  to  serve  you;  though  I  should  not 
succeed,  remember  I  have  intreated  you,  beforehand,  not  to 
impute  the  blame  to  me."  The  sultan  assured  him  of  his 
friendship,  and  the  vizier  prepared  to  carry  his  orders  into 
execution. 

The  first  step  of  the  Ottoman  Porte  was,  to  imprison  the 
Russian  ambassador  in  the  castle  of  the  seven  towers.  It  is 
the  custom  of  the  Turks  to  begin  by  arresting  the  ministers 
of  those  princes  against  whom  they  declare  war.  Strict  6"b- 
Bervers  of  hospitality  in  every  thing  else,  in  this  they  violate 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


169 


the  most  sacred  law  of  nations.  They  commit  this  act  of 
injustice  under  the  pretext  of  equity,  believing,  or  at  least 
desirous  to  have  it  thought,  that  they  never  undertake  any  but 
just  wars,  because  they  are  consecrated  by  the  approbation 
of  the  mufti.  Upon  this  principle,  they  take  up  arms,  as 
they  imagine,  to  chastise  the  breakers  of  treaties,  of  which 
they  themselves  are  often  the  first  violators;  and  think  they 
have  a  right  to  punish  the  ambassadors  of  those  kings  with 
whom  they  are  at  enmity,  as  being  accomplices  in  the  trea- 
chery of  their  masters. 

To  this  manner  of  reasoning,  they  join  a  ridiculous  con- 
tempt which  they  affect  to  entertain  for  christian  princes  and 
their  ambassadors,  the  latter  of  whom  they  consider  in  no 
other  light  than  as  the  consuls  of  merchants. 

The  han  of  Crim  Tartary,  whom  we  call  the  kam,  recei- 
ved orders  to  hold  himself  in  readiness  with  forty  thousand 
Tartars.  This  prince  governs  Nagai,  Budziack,  part  of  Cir- 
cassia,  and  all  Crim  Tartary,  a  province  known  in  antiquity 
by  the  name  of  Taurica  Chersonesus,  into  which  the  Greeks 
carried  their  arms  and  commerce,  and  founded  powerful 
cities,  and  into  which  the  Genoese  since  penetrated  when 
they  were  masters  of  the  trade  of  Europe.  In  this  country 
are  to  be  seen  the  ruins  of  some  Greek  cities,  and  some 
monuments  of  the  Genoese,  which  still  subsist  in  the  midst 
of  desolation  and  barbarism. 

The  kam  is  called  emperor  by  his  own  subjects  :  but  this 
grand  title  does  not  make  him  less  a  slave  of  the  Porte. 
The  Ottoman  blood,  from  which  the  kams  are  sprung,  and 
the  right  they  pretend  to  the  empire  of  the  Turks,  in  case  an 
heir  should  be  wanting  to  the  throne,  render  their  family  re- 
spectable, and  their  persons  formidable,  even  to  the  sultan 
himself.  This  is  the  reason  that  the  grand  seignor  dares  not 
venture  to  destroy  the  race  of  the  kams  of  Tartary,  though 
indeed  he  seldom  allows  any  of  these  princes  to  reign  to  a 
great  age.  Their  conduct  is  closely  inspected  by  the  neigh- 
bouring pachas,  their  dominions  are  surrounded  with  janis- 
H  15 


170 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


saries,  their  inclinations  thwarted  by  the  grand  viziers,  and 
their  designs  always  suspected.  If  the  Tartars  complain  of 
the  kam,  the  Porte  deposes  him  under  that  pretext;  if  he  is 
too  much  beloved  by  his  people,  that  is*  still  a  higher  crime, 
for  which  he  is  most  certainly  punished.  Thus  almost  all 
of  them  are  driven  from  sovereign  power  into  exile,  and  end 
their  days  at  Rhodes,  which  is  generally  their  prison  and 
their  grave. 

The  Tartars,  their  subjects,  are  the  greatest  thieves  on 
earth,  and  what  appears  impossible,  are  at  the  same  time  the 
most  hospitable  people.  They  will  go  fifty  leagues  to  attack 
a  caravan,  or  pillage  a  village;  yet  when  any  stranger  of  any 
Tank  whatever  happens  to  pass  through  their  country,  he  is 
not  only  received,  lodged,  and  maintained  every  where,  but 
through  whatever  places  he  passes,  the  inhabitants  dispute 
with  each  other  the  honour  of  having  him  for  their  guest, 
and  the  master  of  the  house,  his  wife,  and  daughters,  are 
ambitious  to  serve  him.  This  inviolable  regard  to  hospi- 
tality they  have  inherited  from  their  ancestors  the  Scythians, 
and  they  still  preserve  it  on  account  of  the  small  number  of 
strangers  that  travel  among  them,  and  the  low  prices  of  all 
sorts  of  provisions,  which  render  the  practice  of  such  a  vir- 
tue not  exceedingly  burdensome. 

When  the  Tartars  go  to  war  in  conjunction  with  the  Otto- 
man army,  they  are  maintained  by  the  grand  seignor ;  but 
the  booty  they  get  is  their  only  pay ;  and  hence  it  is  that 
they  are  much  fitter  for  plundering  than  fighting. 

The  kam,  won  over  by  the  presents  and  intrigues  of  the 
king  of  Sweden,  at  first  had  obtained  leave  to  appoint  the 
general  rendezvous  of  the  troops  at  Bender,  and  even  under 
the  eye  of  Charles,  in  order  to  convince  that  monarch  that 
the  war  was  undertaken  solely  for  his  sake. 

The  new  vizier  Baltagi  Mehemet,  not  lying  under  the 
same  engagements,  would  not  flatter  a  foreign  prince  so 
highly.  He  changed  this  disposition,  and  assembled  this 
great  army  at  Adrianople,  on  whose  vast  and  fertile  plains 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


171 


the  Turks  usually  draw  up  their  armies,  when  going  to  make 
war  upon  the  Christians  :  there  the  troops  that  arrive  from 
Asia  and  Africa  repose  and  refresh  themselves  for  a  few 
weeks.  But  the  grand  vizier,  in  order  to  he  beforehand 
with  the  czar,  allowed  the  army  hut  three  days  rest,  and 
then  marched  to  the  Danube,  and  from  thence  to  Bessa- 
rabia. 

The  Turkish  troops  at  this  day  are  not  so  formidable  M 
they  were  in  ancient  times,  when  they  conquered  so  many 
kingdoms  in  Asia,  Africa,  aud  Europe;  when,  by  the  strength 
of  their  body,  their  valour,  and  numbers,  they  triumphed 
over  enemies  less  robust  and  worse  disciplined  than  them- 
selves. But  now  that  the  Christians  are  more  expert  in 
the  art  of  war,  in  a  pitched  battle  they  almost  always 
beat  the  Turks,  and  even  with  unequal  numbers.  If  the 
Ottoman  empire  hath  made  some  conquests  lately,  it  hath 
been  only  over  the  republic  of  Venice,  more  esteemed  for 
wisdom  than  for  war,  defended  by  strangers,  and  little  suc- 
coured by  the  Christian  princes,  who  are  always  divided 
among  themselves. 

The  janissaries  and  spahis  make  their  attack  in  a  disor- 
derly manner,  incapable  of  attending  to  the  commands  of 
their  general,  or  rallying  themselves.  Their  cavalry,  which 
ought  to  be  excellent,  considering  the  goodness  and  activity 
of  their  horses,  is  not  able  to  withstand  the  shock  of  the 
German  horse  ;  and  their  infantry  did  not  yet  know  how  to 
make  use  of  fixed  bayonets.  Besides  all  this,  the  Turks 
have  not  had  an  able  general  since  the  time  of  Cou- 
prougli,  who  conquered  the  isle  of  Candia;  a  slave,  brought 
up  in  the  idleness  and  solitude  of  a  seraglio,  made  a  vizier 
through  favour,  and  a  general  against  his  will,  conducting 
an  army  raised  in  a  hurry,  without  discipline  or  experience, 
against  Russian  troops,  hardened  by  twelve  years  war,  and 
proud  of  having  conquered  the  Swedes. 

The  czar,  to  all  appearance,  must  have  vanquished  Baltagi 
Mehemet ;  but  he  was  guilty  of  the  same  fault  with  regard 


172 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


to  the  Turks,  which  the  king  of  Sweden  had  committed 
with  respect  to  himself;  he  despised  his  enemy  too  much.  1 
On  the  first  news  of  the  Turkish  preparation  he  left  Mos- 
cow, and,  having  given  orders  for  turning  the  siege  of  Riga 
into  a  blockade,  assembled  fourscore  thousand  men  on  the 
frontiers  of  Poland. *  With  this  army  he  took  the  road 
through  Moldavia  and  Wallachia,  formerly  the  country  of 
the  Dacians,  but  now  inhabited  by  Greek  Christians,  tribu- 
taries to  the  grand  seignor. 

Moldavia  was,  at  that  time,  governed  by  Prince  Cantemir, 
of  Greek  extraction,  and  who  united  in  his  person  the  talents 
of  the  ancient  Greeks,  the  knowledge  of  letters  and  of  arms. 
He  was  supposed  to  have  descended  from  the  famous  Ti- 
mur,  known  by  the  name  of  Tamerlane.  This  origin  ap- 
pearing more  honourable  than  a  Greek  one,  they  attempt  to 
prove  the  reality  of  the  descent  by  the  name  of  this  con- 
queror. Timur,  say  they,  resembles  Temir ;  the  title  of  Kam, 
which  Timur  possessed  before  he  conquered  Asia,  is  inclu- 
ded in  the  word  Cantemir  ;  therefore  Prince  Cantemir  is  de- 
scended from  Tamerlane.  Such  are  the  foundations  of 
most  genealogies  ! 

But  from  whatever  family  Cantemir  descended,  he  owed 
all  his  fortune  to  the  Ottoman  Porte.  Yet,  scarcely  had  he 
received  the  investiture  of  his  principality,  when  he  betrayed 
the  Turkish  emperor,  his  benefactor,  to  the  czar,  from  when 
he  expected  greater  advantages.  He  flattered  himself  that 
the  conqueror  of  Charles  XII.  would  easily  triumph  over  a 
vizier  of  so  little  reputation,  who  had  never  made  a  cam- 
paign, and  who  had  chosen  for  his  kiaia,  that  is  to  say,  his 
lieutenant,  the  in  tend  ant  of  the  customs  in  Turkey.  He 
made  no  doubt  but  all  the  Greeks  would  readily  follow  his 
standard,  as  the  Greek  patriarch  had  encouraged  him  in  his 

*  The  Chaplain  Norberg  asserts,  that  the  czar  compelled  every  fourth 
man  in  his  dominions,  able  to  bear  arms,  to  follow  him  to  the  field.  Had 
this  been  true,  his  army  would  have  amounted,  at  least,  to  two  millions 
of  men. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


173 


revolt.  The  czar,  therefore,  having  made  a  secret  treaty 
with  thij  prince,  and  received  him  into  his  army,  advanced 
into  the  country;  and  in  the  month  of  June,  1711,  arrived 
on  the  northern  banks  of  the  river  Hierassus,  now  Pruth, 
uear  Jassy,  the  capital  of  Moldavia. 

As  soon  as  the  grand  vizier  heard  that  Peter  Alexiowitz 
was  advancing  on  that  side,  he  immediately  quitted  his 
camp,  and  following  the  course  of  the  Danube,  resolved  to 
cross  the  river  on  a  bridge  of  boats,  near  to  a  town  called 
Saccia,  at  the  same  place  where  Darius  formerly  built  the 
bridge  that  went  by  his  name.  The  Turkish  army  used 
such  diligence,  that  they  soon  came  in  sight  of  the  Musco- 
vites, the  river  Pruth  lying  between  them. 

The  czar,  sure  of  the  prince  of  Moldavia,  never  thought 
that  the  Moldavians  would  fail  him.  But  the  prince  and 
his  subjects  have  very  often  different  interests.  The  Mol- 
davians preferred  the  Turkish  government,  which  is  never 
fatal  to  the  great,  and  which  affects  a  great  lenity  and  mild- 
ness to  its  tributary  states  :  they  dreaded  the  Christians,  and 
especially  the  Muscovites,  who  had  always  treated  them 
with  inhumanity;  they,  therefore,  carried  all  their  provisions 
to  the  Ottoman  army ;  the  contractors  also,  who  had  engaged 
to  furnish  the  Russians  with  provisions,  executed  in  favour 
of  the  grand  vizier  the  very  agreement  which  they  had  made 
with  the  czar.  The  Wallachians,  neighbours  to  the  Mol- 
davians, discovered  the  same  attachment  to  the  Turks ;  so 
much  had  the  remembrance  of  the  Russian  cruelties  aliena- 
ted all  their  minds. 

The  czar,  thus  deceived  in  his  hopes,  which,  perhaps,  he 
had  too  eagerly  entertained,  saw  his  army  on  a  sudden  des- 
titute of  forage  and  provisions.  The  soldiers  deserted  in 
troops,  and  his  army  was  soon  reduced  to  less  than  thirty 
thousand  men,  ready  to  perish  with  hunger.  The  czar  ex- 
perienced the  same  misfortunes  upon  the  banks  of  the  Pruth, 
in  having  trusted  himself  to  Cantemir,  as  Charles  XII.  had 
done  at  Pultowa,  in  relying  upon  Mazeppa.  Meanwhile 
15* 


174 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


the  Turks  passed  the  river,  hemmed  in  the  Russians,  and 
formed  an  intrenched  camp  before  them.  It  is  surprising 
that  the  czar  did  not  dispute  their  passage,  or,  at  least,  re- 
pair this  error  by  attacking  the  Turks  immediately  after  their 
landing,  instead  of  giving  them  time  to  destroy  his  army  with 
hunger  and  fatigue.  It  would  seem,  indeed,  that  Peter  did 
every  thing  in  this  campaign  to  hasten  his  own  ruin.  He 
found  himself  without  provisions,  having  the  river  Pruth  be- 
hind him,  an  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  Turks  before  him, 
and  forty  thousand  Tartars  continually  harassing  his  army 
on  the  right  and  left.  In  this  extremity,  he  openly  said, 
"  Here  am  I,  at  least,  in  as  bad  a  situation  as  my  brother 
Charles  was  at  Pultowa." 

Count  Poniatowsky,  an  indefatigable  agent  of  the  king  of 
Sweden,  was  in  the  grand  vizier's  army,  together  with  some 
Poles  and  Swedes,  who  all  imagined  the  ruin  of  the  czar  to 
be  inevitable. 

As  soon  as  Poniatowsky  saw  that  the  armies  must  infalli- 
bly come  to  an  engagement,  he  sent  to  the  king  of  Sweden, 
who  immediately  set  out  from  Bender,  accompanied  by  forty 
officers,  enjoying  in  idea  the  pleasure  he  should  have  in  fight- 
ing the  emperor  of  Muscovy.  After  many  losses,  and  seve- 
ral destructive  marches,  the  czar  was  driven  back  to  the 
Pruth,  having  no  other  intrenchment  than  a  chevaux-de-frise 
and  a  few  wagons.  A  few  troops  of  the  janissaries  and 
spahis  attacked  his  army  so  disadvantageous^  situated ; 
but  their  attack  was  disorderly,  and  the  Russians  defended 
themselves  with  a  firmness  which  the  presence  of  their 
prince,  added  to  their  despair,  gave  them. 

The  Turks  were  twice  repulsed.  Next  day  M.  Ponia- 
towsky advised  the  grand  vizier  to  starve  the  Russian  army, 
which  being  in  want  of  every  thing,  would,  together  with 
the  emperor,  be  obliged,  in  a  day's  time,  to  surrender  at  dis- 
cretion. 

The  czar  hath,  since  that  time,  more  than  once  declared, 
that  in  his  whole  life  he  never  felt  any  thing  so  tormenting 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


175 


as  the  agitation  in  which  he  passed  the  night:  he  revolved 
in  his  thoughts,  that  all  he  had  been  doing  for  so  many  years 
to  promote  the  glory  and  happiness  of  his  country,  that  so 
many  grand  undertakings,  which  had  been  already  interrupt- 
ed by  wars,  were  now,  perhaps,  going  to  perish  with  him, 
before  they  were  fully  accomplished ;  and  that  he  must  ei- 
ther be  destroyed  by  famine,  or  attack  about  an  hundred  and 
eighty  thousand  men  with  feeble  and  dispirited  troops,  di- 
minished one  half  in  their  number,  the  cavalry  almost  en- 
tirely dismounted,  and  the  infantry  exhausted  with  hunger 
and  fatigue. 

In  the  beginning  of  the  night,  he  had  sent  for  General 
Czercmetolf,  and  ordered  him,  without  deliberation,  or  ta- 
king his  opinion,  to  have  every  thing  in  readiness  at  the 
break  of  day  for  attacking  the  Turks  with  fixed  bayonets. 

He  likewise  gave  the  most  positive  orders  that  all  the 
baggage  should  be  burnt,  and  that  every  officer  should  keep 
but  one  wagon,  in  order  that,  if  they  were  conquered,  the 
enemy  might  not  obtain  the  booty  they  expected. 

Having  regulated  every  thing  with  the  general  for  the 
battle,  he  retired  to  his  tent,  oppressed  with  grief,  and  agi- 
tated with  convulsions,  a  disorder  with  which  he  was  often 
attacked,  and  which  always  recurred  with  redoubled  vio- 
lence when  he  was  under  any  perturbation  of  mind.  He 
gave  orders  that  no  one  should  dare  to  enter  his  tent  in  the 
night,  on  any  pretext  whatever  :  not  choosing  to  receive  any 
remonstrance  against  a  resolution  which,  though  desperate, 
was  necessary;  and  still  less  that  any  one  should  be  a  witness 
of  the  distressed  situation  in  which  he  found  himself. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  greatest  part  of  the  baggage  was 
burnt,  as  he  had  ordered.  The  whole  army  followed  the 
example,  though  with  much  reluctance ;  and  several  buried 
their  most  valuable  effects  in  the  earth.  The  general  offi- 
cers had  already  given  orders  for  the  march,  and  were  en- 
deavouring to  inspire  the  army  with  that  confidence  which 
they  themselves  wanted ;  but  the  whole  soldiery,  exhausted 


176 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


with  hunger  and  fatigue,  marched  without  spirit  or  hope. 
The  women,  with  which  the  army  was  needlessly  crowded, 
6et  up  the  most  lamentable  cries,  which  contributed  still 
more  to  enervate  the  men ;  and  next  morning  every  one  ex- 
pected death  or  slavery  as  the  only  alternative.  This  de- 
scription is  by  no  means  exaggerated  ;  it  is  exactly  con- 
formable to  the  accounts  that  were  given  by  officers  who 
served  in  the  army. 

There  was  at  that  time  in  the  Russian  camp  a  woman  as 
extraordinary,  perhaps,  as  the  czar  himself.  She  was  then 
only  known  by  the  name  of  Catherine.  Her  mother  was  a 
poor  country  woman,  called  Erb-Magden,  of  the  village  of 
Ringen,  in  Esthonia,  a  province  where  the  people  were 
serfs  or  glebe  slaves,  and  which  was  then  under  the  govern- 
ment of  the  Swedes.  She  never  discovered  her  father,  and 
had  been  baptized  by  the  name  of  Martha.  The  vicar  of 
the  parish,  out  of  charity,  brought  her  up  to  the  age  of  four- 
teen ;  at  which  age  she  went  to  service  at  Marienbourg,  at 
the  house  of  a  Lutheran  minister  of  that  country  called 
Glurk. 

In  1702,  being  then  eighteen  years  of  age,  she  married 
a  Swedish  dragoon.  The  day  after  her  marriage,  a  party  of 
the  Swedish  troops  having  been  beat  by  the  Muscovites,  the 
dragoon,  who  was  in  the  action,  was  missing,  nor  could 
his  wife  discover  whether  he  had  been  made  prisoner, 
nor  indeed  at  any  time  afterwards  learn  what  was  become 
of  him. 

A  few  days  after  she  was  made  a  prisoner  herself  by  Gene- 
ral Baur,  in  whose  service  she  staid  some  time,  and  after- 
wards in  that  of  Mareschal  Czeremetoff,  by  whom  she  wa9 
given  to  Menzikoff,  a  man  who  experienced  the  greatest  vi- 
cissitudes of  fortune,  having  been  raised  from  a  pastry 
cook's  boy  to  the  rank  of  a  general  and  a  prince,  but  who 
was  at  last  stripped  of  every  honour,  and  banished  into  Si- 
beria, where  he  died  in  misery  and  despair. 

It  was  at  a  supper  given  by  Prince  Menzikoff  that  tha 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


177 


emperor  first  saw  her,  and  instantly  became  enamoured  of 
her.  He  privately  married  her  in  the  year  1707  ;  not  se- 
duced to  it  by  female  artifices,  but  because  he  thought  he 
had  met  with  a  woman  capable  of  seconding  his  schemes, 
and  even  of  maintaining  them  after  his  death.  He  had  long 
before,  divorced  his  first  wife  Ottokesa,  the  daughter  of  a 
boyard,  who  was  accused  of  opposing  the  alterations  which 
he  made  in  his  dominions ;  a  crime  in  the  eyes  of  the  czar 
the  most  unpardonable,  as  he  would  suffer  nobody  in  his 
family  whose  thoughts  did  not  agree  with  his  own.  He 
thought  he  had  now  found  in  this  foreign  slave  the  qualities 
of  a  sovereign,  though  she  had  none  of  the  virtues  of  her 
sex :  he,  however,  for  her  sake,  disdained  the  prejudices 
that  would  have  governed  a  man  of  common  ideas,  and 
therefore  had  her  crowned  empress.  The  same  talents 
which  made  her  the  wife  of  Peter  Alexiowitz,  procured  her 
the  empire  after  the  death  of  her  husband.  Europe  hath 
beheld  with  surprise  this  woman  who  was  never  able  to 
read*  or  write,  and  compensating  for  her  education  and  her 
weaknesses  by  her  firmness,  and  filling  with  glory  the  throne 
of  a  legislator. 

At  the  time  she  married  the  czar,  she  renounced  the  Lu- 
theran religion,  in  which  she  had  been  born,  for  that  of 
Muscovy  ;  in  which  religion  she  was  re-baptized,  according 
to  the  rites  of  the  Russian  church,  and  instead  of  the  name 
of  Martha,  she  took  that  of  Catherine,  by  which  she  was 
ever  after  known.    This  woman  happening  to  be  in  the 

*  The  Sieur  de  la  Mottray  pretends  that  she  had  a  good  education, 
and  could  both  read  and  write  very  well.  The  contrary  of  this  is  known 
to  all  the  world.  The  peasants  of  Livonia  are  never  permitted  to 
learn  either  to  read  or  write,  owing  to  an  ancient  privilege,  which  is 
termed  the  benefit  of  clergy,  formerly  established  among  the  barbarians 
who  were  converted  to  Christianity,  and  still  subsisting  in  this  country. 
The  memoirs  from  which  this  anecdote  is  taken  farther  adds,  that  the 
Princess  Elizabeth,  afterwards  empress,  always  signed  for  her  mother, 
from  the  time  she  could  write. 


H2 


178 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


camp  at  Pruth,  she  held  a  council  with  the  general  officers 
and  the  Vice-Chancellor  Schaffirof,  while  the  czar  was  in 
his  tent. 

In  this  conference  it  was  resolved  to  ask  a  peace  of  the 
Turks,  and  endeavour  to  persuade  the  czar  to  agree  to  it. 
The  vice-chancellor  wrote  a  letter  to  the  grand  vizier  in  his 
master's  name,  which  letter  the  czarina  carried  into  the  em- 
peror's tent,  notwithstanding  his  prohibition  :  and  having  by 
tears  and  entreaties  prevailed  upon  him  to  sign  it,  she  imme- 
diately collected  all  her  jewels,  money,  and  most  valuable 
effects,  and  even  borrowed  of  the  general  officers  pwbieh 
6iim  being  amassed,  formed  a  considerable  present:  she  then 
sent  it,  with  the  letter  signed  by  the  czar,  to  Osman  Aga, 
lieutenant  to  the  grand  Vizier.  Mehemet  Baliagi  at  flrsr 
answered  with  the  lofty  air  of  a  vizier,  and  a  conqueror,  "  let 
the  czar  send  me  his  prime  minister,  and  I  shall  then  con 
sider  what  is  to  be  done."  The  Vice-Chancellor  Schaffirof, 
upon  this,  immediately  set  off  to  the  Turkish  camp,  provided 
with  some  presents,  which  he  publicly  offered  to  the  grand 
vizier,  sufficient  to  show  him  they  stood  in  need  of  his  cle- 
mency, but  too  inconsiderable  to  corrupt  his  integrity. 

The  first  demand  the  vizier  made  was,  that  the  czar  should 
surrender  at  discretion  with  the  whole  army.  The  vice- 
chancellor  replied,  that  his  master  was  going  to  attack  him 
in  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  and  that  the  Russians  would  perish 
to  a  man,  rather  than  submit  to  such  infamous  conditions. 
Osman  joined  his  remonstrances  to  the  demand  of  Schaffirof. 

Mehemet  Baltagi  was  no  warrior;  he  saw  that  the  janis- 
saries had  been  repulsed  the  evening  before,  so  that  Osman 
easily  prevailed  on  him  not  to  expose  to  the  hazard  of  a  bat- 
tle such  certain  advantages.  He  therefore  granted  at  first,  a 
suspension  of  hostilities  for  six  hours,  during  which  they 
should  agree  upon  the  conditions  of  the  treaty. 

During  the  parley,  there  happened  a  little  incident  which 
may  serve  to  show  that  the  Turks  often  pay  more  regard  to 
their  word  than '  is  in  general  imagined.    Two  Italian  gen 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


i79 


tlemen,  relations  of  M.  Brillo,  lieutenant  colonel  of  a  regi- 
ment of  grenadiers  in  the  czar's  service,  having  gone  in  quest 
of  forage,  were  taken  prisoners  by  some  Tartars,  who  brought 
them  to  the  camp,  and  offered  to  sell  them  to  an  officer  of 
the  janissaries.  The  Turk,  enraged  at  their  daring  to  vio- 
late the  truce,  arrested  the  Tartars,  and  carried  Jfiem  him- 
self before  the  grand  vizier,  together  with  the  two  prisoners. 

The  vizier  sent  back  the  two  gentlemen  to  the  czar's 
.camp,  and  ordered  the  Tartars  who  had  been  chiefly  con- 
cerned in  the  transaction,  to  be  beheaded. 

In  the  mean  time  the  kam  of  Tartary  opposed  the  conclu- 
sion of  the  treaty,  which  would  deprive  him  of  all  hopes  of 
plunder;  Poniatowsky  seconded  the  kam  with  the  most  per- 
suasive argument:  but  Osman  carrit^his  point, against  the 
importunity  of  "the  Tartar,  and  the  insinuations  of  Ponia- 
towsky.   ^  # 

The  vizier  thought,  that  by  concluding  an  advantageous 
peace  he  should  sufficiently  serve  his  master.  He  insisted 
that  the  Muscovites  should/leifver  up  Azoph,  burn  the  gal- 
lies  which  lay  in  that  harbour,  demolish  the  important  cita-  m 
dels  built  upon  the  Palus  Maeotis,  and  give  the  cannon  and 
ammunition  of  all  those  fortresses  into  the  hands  of  the  grand 
seignor ;  that  the  czar  should  withdraw  his  troops  from  Po- 
land ;  that  he  should  not  incommode  the  little  number  of 
Cossacks  that  were  under  the  protection  of  the  Poles,  nor 
those  who  depended  on  the  Turks ;  and  that  for  the  future, 
he  should  pay  the  Tartars  a  subsidy  of  forty  thousand  se- 
quins a  year ;  a  disagreeable  tribute  imposed  a  long  time 
past,  but  from  which  the  czar  had  delivered  his  country. 

At  last,  the  treaty  was  going  to  be  signed,  without  so 
much  as  making  mention  of  the  king  of  Sweden.  All  that 
Poniatowsky  could  obtain  of  the  vizier  was,  to  insert  an  ar~ 
tide,  by  which  the  czar  engaged  not  to  incommode  Charles 
in  his  return ;  and,  what  is  very  remarkable,  it  was  stipulated 
in  this  article,  that  the  czar  and  the  king  of  Sweden  should 
be  at  liberty  to  mak»  peace  if  they  wished  it,  and  if  they 
could  agree  upon  the  conditions. 


180 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


On  these  conditions  the  czar  was  permitted  to  retire  with 
his  army,  cannon,  artillery,  colours,  and  baggage.  The 
Turks  furnished  him  with  provisions,  so  that  he  had  plenty 
of  every  thing  in  his  camp  two  hours  after  the  signing  of  the 
treaty,  which  was  begun,  concluded,  and  signed  the  twenty- 
first  day-^f  July,  1711. 

Just  as  the  czar,  now  extricated  from  this  terrible  dilemma, 
was  marching  off  with  drums  beating  and  colours  Hying,  the 
king  of  Sweden  arrived,  impatient  for  the  fight,  and  to  be- 
held his  enemy  in  his  power.  He  had  rode  above  fifty 
leagues  from  Bender  to  'Jassy.  He  arrived  the  very  moment 
the  Russians  were  beginning  to  retire  in  peace ;  but  he 
could  not  penetrate  to  the  Turkish  camp  without  passing  the 
Pruth  by  a  bridge  trn^£  leagues  distant.  ^  Charles,  who  ne- 
ver did  any  thing  like  other  men,  swam^across  the  river  at 
the  hazard  of  being,  drowned,  andMraversed  tne  Russian 
camp  at  the  risk  of  being  taken  ;  he,  however,  reached  the 
Turkish  army,  and  alighted  at  the  tent  of  Poniatowsky,  who 
has  related  this  fact  to  me  both*  in  conversation  and  in  his 
correspondence.  The  count  came  to  him  with  a  melancholy 
air,  and  tola  him  he  had  lost  an  opportunity  which,  perhaps, 
he  would  never  be  able  to  recover. 

The  king,  fired  with  resentment,  ran  immediately  to  the 
tent  of  the  grand  vizier,  and,  with  an  inflamed  countenance, 
reproached  him  with  the  treaty  he  had  concluded.  "  I  have 
a  right,"  says  the  grand  vizier,  with  a  calm  air,  "  to  make 
peace  or  war."  "  But,"  adds  the  king,  "  had  you  not  the 
whole  Russian  army  in  your  power?"  "  Our  law  orders,'' 
answers  the  vizier  gravely,  M  to  give  peace  to  our  enemies 
when  they  implore  our  mercy."  "  And  does  it  command 
you,"  resumes  the  king,  in  a  passion,  "  to  make  a  bad  treaty 
when  you  may  impose  what  laws  you  please  ?  Did  it  not  de- 
pend upon  you  to  lead  the  czar  prisoner  to  Constantinople  ?" 

The  Turk,  driven  to  extremity,  replied  drily,  "  and  who 
would  have  governed  his  empire  in  his  absence  ?  It  is  not 
proper  that  all  kings  should  leave  their  dominions."  Charles 
made  no  other  answer  than  by  a  smile  of  indignation.  He 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


181 


then  threw  himself  down  upon  a  sopha,  and  eyeing  the  vizier 
with  an  air  of  contempt  and  resentment,  stretched  out  his  leg, 
and  entangling  his  spur  in  the  Turk's  robe,  purposely  tore  it; 
after  which  he  rose  up,  remounted  his  horse,  and  with  de- 
spair in  his  heart  returned  to  Bender. 

Poniatowski  continued  some  time  longer  with  the  grand 
vizier,  to  try  if  he  could  prevail  upon  him,  by  more  gentle 
means,  to  extort  greater  concessions  from  the  czar;  but  the 
hour  of  prayer  being  come,  the  Turk,  without  answering  a 
single  word,  went  to  wash  and  to  say  his  prayers. 


16 


182 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


BOOK  VI. 

Argument. — Intrigues  at  the  Ottoman  Porte. — The  kam  of  Tartary  and 
the  pacha  of  Bender  endeavour  to  force  Charles  to  depart. — He  defends 
himself  with  forty  domestics  against  a  whole  army. — Is  taken  and 
treated  as  a  prisoner. 

The  fortune  of  the  king  of  Sweden,  so  changed  from  what 
it  had  been,  persecuted  him  even  in  the  most  trivial  circum- 
stances. He  found,  on  his  return,  his  little  camp  at  Bender, 
and  all  his  apartments,  overflowed  by  the  waters  of  the  Nies- 
ter  :  he  therefore  retired  to  the  distance  of  a  few  miles,  near 
to  the  village  called  Va*nitza ;  and,  as  if  he  had  had  a  secret 
foreboding  of  what  was  to  befal  him,  he  there  built  a  large 
house  of  stone,  capable,  on  occasion,  to  sustain  an  assault  for 
some  hours.  He  even  furnished  it  magnificently,  contrary 
to  his  usual  custom,  in  order  to  command  respect  from  the 
Turks. 

He  likewise  built  two  other  houses,  one  for  his  chancery, 
and  the  other  for  his  favourite  Grothusen,  who  kept  a  table 
at  the  king's  expense.  While  the  king  was  thus  employed 
in  building  near  Bender,  as  if  he  had  intended  always  to  re- 
main in  Turkey,  Baltagi  Mehemet,  dreading  more  than  ever 
the  intrigues  and  complaints  of  this  prince  at  the  Porte,  had 
sent  the  resident  of  the  emperor  of  Germany  to  Vienna,  to 
demand  a  free  passage  for  the  king  of  Sweden  through  the 
hereditary  dominions  of  the  house  of  Austria.  This  envoy 
in  three  weeks  returned  with  a  promise  from  the  imperial 
regency  that  the  honours  which  were  due  to  him  should  be 
paid  to  Charles  XII.,  and  that  he  should  be  safely  conducted 
to  Pomerania. 

Application  was  made  to  the  regency  of  Vienna,  because 
Charles,  the  emperor  of  Germany,  who  had  succeeded  Jo- 
seph, was  then  in  Spain,  disputing  the  crown  of  that  king- 
dom with  Philip  V.  While  the  German  envoy  was  executing 
this  commission  at  Vienna,  the  grand  vizier  sent  three  pachas 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


183 


to  the  king  of  Sweden,  to  signify  to  him  that  he  must  quit 
the  Turkish  dominions. 

The  king,  who  had  been  informed  of  the  orders  with 
which  they  were  charged,  caused  immediate  notice  to  be 
given  to  them,  that  if  they  presumed  to  make  him  any  pro- 
posals contrary  to  his  honour,  or  to  the  respect  which  was 
due  to  him,  he  would  have  them  all  three  hanged  that  very 
moment.  The  pacha  of  Thessalonica,  who  delivered  the 
message,  disguised  the  harshness  of  the  commission  under 
the  most  respectful  terms.  Charles  finished  the  audience 
without  deigning  to  return  the  least  answer.  His  chancel- 
lor,  Mullern,  who  remained  with  the  three  pachas,  briefly 
explained  to  them  his  master's  refusal,  which  already  they 
sufficiently  comprehended  by  his  silence. 

The  grand  vizier  did  not  give  up  the  point;  he  ordered 
Ismael  Pacha,  the  new  seraskier  of  Bender,  to  threaten  the 
king  with  the  sultan's  indignation^  if  he  did  not  make  his 
determination  without  delay.  This  seraskier  was  a  man  of 
mild  temper  and  engaging  address,  which  had  gained  him 
the  good  will  of  Charles,  and  the  friendship  of  all  the 
Swedes.  The  king  entered  into  conference  with  him  :  but 
it  was  only  to  tell  him,  that  he  would  not  depart  till  Achmet 
had  granted  him  two  demands — the  punishment  of  the  grand 
vizier,  and  a  hundred  thousand  men  to  return  with  him  into 
Poland. 

Baltagi  Mehemet  knew  very  well  that  Charles  remained 
in  Turkey  only  to  ruin  him ;  he  took  care  to  plant  guards 
along  all  the  roads  from  Bender  to  Constantinople,  to  inter- 
cept the  king's  letters.  He  did  more;  he  retrenched  his 
"  thaim,"  that  is  to  say,  the  provision  with  which  the  Porte 
furnishes  those  princes  to  whom  she  grants  an  asylum.  That 
of  the  king  of  Sweden  was  immense,  consisting  of  five  hun- 
dred crowns  a  day  in  money,  and  a  profusion  of  every  thing 
that  could  contribute  to  maintain  a  court  in  splendor  and 
affluence. 

As  soon  as  the  king  understood  that  the  vizier  had  pre- 
sumed to  retrench  his  allowance,  he  turned  to  the  steward 


184 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


of.  his  household,  and  said,  "  Hitherto  you  have  only  had 
two  tables,  but  I  command  you  to  have  four  from  to-morrow." 

The  officers  of  Charles  XII.  were  accustomed  to  esteem 
nothing  impossible  which  their  master  ordered  ;  at  present, 
however,  they  had  neither  money  nor  provisions,  and 
were  obliged  to  borrow  at  twenty,  thirty,  and  forty  per 
cent,  of  the  officers,  domestics,  and  janissaries,  who  were 
grown  rich  by  the  profusion  of  the  king.  M.  Fabricius,  the 
envoy  of  Holstein,  Jeffreys,  the  minister  of  England,  with 
their  secretaries  and  friends,  gave  all  that  they  had.  The 
king,  with  his  usual  stateliness,  and  without  any  concern 
about  the  morrow,  subsisted  on  these  presents,  which  could 
not  have  sufficed  him  long.  It  was,  therefore,  necessary  to 
elude  the  vigilance  of  the  guards,  and  to  send  secretly  to 
Constantinople  to  borrow  money  of  the  European  merchants. 
All  refused  to  lend  money  to  a  king  who  seemed  to  put  him- 
self out  of  a  condition^ ever  to  repay  them.  One  English 
merchant  alone,  named  Cook,  ventured  to  lend  him  about 
forty  thousand  crowns,  being  content  to  lose  them  in  case 
of  the  king  of  Sweden's  death.  This  money  was  brought 
to  the  king's  little  camp  just  as  they  began  to  be  in  want  of 
every  thing,  and  without  hopes  of  any  relief. 

In  this  interval,  M.  Poniatowsky  wrote,  from  the  very 
camp  of  the  grand  vizier,  a  relation  of  the  campaign  at 
Pruth,  in  which  he  accused  Baltagi  Mehemet  of  cowardice 
and  treachery.  An  old  janissary,  provoked  at  the  weakness 
'  of  the  vizier,  and  gained  moreover  by  the  presents  of  Ponia- 
towsky, undertook  to  deliver  this  account;  and  having  ob- 
tained leave  of  absence,  presented  the  letter  with  his  own 
hand  to  the  sultan. 

Poniatowsky,  a  few  days  after,  left  the  camp,  and  repaired 
to  the  Ottoman  Porte,  to  form  intrigues  against  the  grand 
vizier,  according  to  his  usual  custom. 

Circumstances  were  favourable.  The  czar,  finding  him- 
self at  liberty,  did  not  hurry  himself  to  perform  his  engage- 
ments ;  the  keys  of  Azoph  did  not  arrive ;  the  grand  vizier, 
who  was  answerable  for  them,  and  who,  with  reason, 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


185 


dreaded  the  indignation  of  his  master,  did  not  dare  to  ap- 
pear in  his  presence. 

The  seraglio,  at  that  time,  was  filled  more  than  ever  with 
intrigues  and  factions.  These  cabals,  which  exist  in  all  courts, 
and  which,  in  European  courts,  commonly  end  with  the  dismis- 
sion of  the  minister,  or  at  most  in  his  banishment,  never  fail  at 
Constantinople  to  occasion  the  loss  of  more  than  one  head :  they 
proved  fatal  to  the  old  vizier  Chourlouli,  and  to  Osman,  that 
lieutenant  of  Baltagi  Mehemet,  who  was  the  principal  author  of 
the  peace  of  Pruth,  and  had  afterwards  obtained  a  considerable 
post  at  the  Porte.  Among  Osman's  treasures  was  found  the 
czarina's  ring,  and  twenty  thousand  pieces  of  gold  of  the 
Saxon  and  Russian  coin,  which  was  a  proof  that  money  alone 
had  saved  the  czar  of  Muscovy  from  the  precipice,  and  ruin- 
ed the  affairs  of  Charles  XII.  The  vizier  Baltagi  Mehemet 
was  banished  to  the  isle  of  Lemnos,  where  he  died  three 
years  after.  The  sultan  did  not  seize  his  effects,  either  at 
his  banishment  or  at  his  death.  He  was  far  from  being  rich, 
and  his  poverty  is  a  justification  of  his  character. 

To  this  grand  vizier  succeeded  Jussuf,  that  is  to  say,  Jo- 
seph, whose  fortune  was  as  extraordinary  as  that  of  his  pre- 
decessors. He  was  born  on  the  frontiers  of  Muscovy,  was 
taken  prisoner  at  six  years  of  age,  together  with  his  family, 
and  had  been  sold  to  a  janissary.  He  had  been  for  some 
time  a  servant  in  the  seraglio,  and  at  last  became  the  second 
person  in  that  very  empire  wherein  he  had  been  a  slave ; 
but  he  was  only  the  shadow  of  a  minister.  The  young  Se- 
lietar-x<Ui  Coumourgi  elevated  him  to  that  slippery  post  only 
while  he  waited  for  an  occasion  to  fill  it  himself ;  and  Jus- 
suf, his  creature,  had  nothing  to  do  but  to  set  the  seals  of 
the  empire  to  the  will  of  this  favourite.  The  politics  of  the 
Ottoman  court  seemed  to  undergo  a  total  alteration,  from  the 
very  beginning  of  this  vizier's  administration.  The  czar's 
plenipotentiaries,  who  remained  at  Constantinople,  both  as 
ambassadors  and  as  hostages,  were  treated  better  than  ever ; 
the  grand  vizier  confirmed  with  them  the  peace  of  Pruth ; 
but  that  which  mortified  the  king  of  Sweden  above  all  was, 

16* 


186 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII 


to  hear  that  the  secret  alliance  made  with  the  czar  at  Con- 
stantinople, was  brought  about  by  the  mediation  of  the  am- 
bassadors of  England  and  Holland. 

Constantinople,  since  the  time  of  Charles's  retreat  to  Ben- 
der, was  become  what  Rome  hath  so  often  been,  the  centre 
of  the  negotiations  of  Christendom.  Count  des  Allures,  the 
ambassador  from  France,  supported  here  the  interests  of 
Charles  and  Stanislaus  ;  the  minister  of  the  emperor  of  Ger- 
many opposed  them  ;  and  the  same  collisions  prevailed  here 
between  the  Swedish  and  Muscovite  factions,  with  which 
we  have  long  seen  the  court  of  Rome  agitated  by  those  of 
France  and  Spain. 

England  and  Holland,  who  seemed  to  be  neuter,  were  not 
so  in  reality ;  the  new  commerce  which  the  czar  had  open- 
ed at  Petersburgh  attracted  the  attention  of  these  two  com- 
mercial nations. 

The  English  and  Dutch  will  be  always  for  that  prince 
who  shall  most  favour  their  trade.  There  was  much  to  be 
obtained  from  the  czar,  and  therefore,  it  is  not  surprising 
that  the  ministers  of  England  and  Holland  should  serve  him 
secretly  at  the  Ottoman  Porte.  One  of  the  conditions  of 
this  new  alliance  was,  that  Charles  should  be  immediately 
obliged  to  quit  the  Turkish  empire  ;  whether  it  was  that  the 
czar  hoped  to  seize  his  person  on  the  road,  or  that  he  thought 
Charles  less  formidable  in  his  own  kingdom  than  in  Turkey, 
where  he  was  always  on  the  point  of  arming  the  Ottoman 
troops  against  the  Russian  empire. 

The  king  of  Sweden  was  continually  soliciting  the  Porte 
to  send  him  back  through  Poland  with  a  numerous  army. 
The  divan,  in  fact,  resolved  to  send  him  back  with  a  simple 
guard  of  seven  or  eight  thousand  men,  not  as  a  king  whom 
they  wished  to  assist,  but  as  a  guest  whom  they  wanted  to 
get  rid  of.  For  this  purpose,  the  Sultan  Achmet  wrote  to 
him  in  these  terms : 

u  Most  powerful  among  the  kings,  adorer  of  Jesus,  redresser  of 
wrongs  and  injuries,  and  protector  of  justice  in  the  ports  and 
republics  of  the  South  and  North;  shining  in  majesty,  friend 


KING  OF  SWEDEN.  187 

of  honour  and  glory,  and  of  our  Sublime  Porte,  Charles, 
King  of  Sweden,  whose  enterprises  God  crown  with  suc- 
cess ln 

u  As  soon  as  the  most  illustrious  Achmet,  formerly 
Chiaux-Pachi,  shall  have  the  honour  to  present  you  with 
this  letter,  adorned  with  our  imperial  seal,  be  persuaded  and 
convinced  of  the  truth  of  our  intentions  therein  contained, 
to  wit,  that  though  we  did  propose,  once  more,  to  march 
our  ever  victorious  army  against  the  czar,  yet  that  prince,  to 
avoid  the  just  resentment  which  we  had  conceived  at  his  de- 
laying to  execute  the  treaty  concluded  on  the  banks  of  the 
Pruth,  and  afterwards  renewed  at  our  Sublime  Porte,  having 
surrendered  into  our  hands  the  castle  and  city  of  Azoph, 
and  endeavoured,  through  the  mediation  of  the  ambassadors 
of  England  and  Holland,  our  ancient  allies,  to  cultivate  a 
lasting  peace  with  us,  we  have  granted  his  request,  and 
given  to  his  plenipotentiaries,  who  remain  with  us  as  hos- 
tages, our  imperial  ratification,  after  having  received  his 
from  their  hands. 

"  We  have  given  to  the  most  honourable  and  valiant  Del- 
vet  Gherai,  kam  of  Budziack,  Crim  Tartary,  Nagay,  and 
Circassia,  and  to  our  most  sage  counsellor  and  generous  se- 
raskier  of  Bender,  Ismael,  (may  God  perpetuate  and  aug- 
ment their  magnificence  and  wisdom,)  our  inviolable  and 
salutary  order  for  your  return  through  Poland,  according  to 
your  first  desire,  which  hath  been  renewed  to  us  in  your 
name.  You  must,  therefore,  prepare  to  depart  under  the 
auspices  of  Providence,  and  with  an  honourable  guard,  be- 
fore the  approaching  winter,  in  order  to  return  to  your  own 
territories,  taking  care  to  pass  as  a  friend  through  those  of 
Poland. 

"  Whatever  shall  be  necessary  for  your  journey  shall  be 
furnished  you  by  my  Sublime  Porte,  as  well  in  money,  as  in 
men,  horses,  and  wagons.  We  above  all  things  exhort  and 
recommend  to  you,  to  give  the  most  positive  and  precise 
orders  to  all  the  Swedes  and  other  persons  in  your  retinue, 
to  commit  no  outrage,  nor  be  guilty  of  any  action  that  may 


188 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


tend  either  directly  or  indirectly  to  violate  this  peace  and 
alliance. 

"  You  will  by  these  means  preserve  our  good  will,  of 
which  we  shall  endeavour  to  give  you  as  great  and  as  fre- 
quent marks  as  occasion  shall  offer.  Our  troops  destined  to 
accompany  you  shall  receive  orders  conformable  to  our  im- 
perial intentions." 

Given  at  our  Sublime  Porte  of  Constantinople,  the  four- 
teenth of  the  moon  Rebyul  Eurech,  1214,  which  an- 
swers to  the  nineteenth  of  April,  1712. 

This  letter  did  not  yet  deprive  the  king  of  Sweden  of  his 
hopes  :  he  wrote  to  the  sultan,  that  he  should  ever  retain  a 
grateful  remembrance  of  the  favours  his  highness  had  be- 
stowed on  him,  but  that  he  believed  the  sultan  too  just  to 
send  him  back  with  the  simple  guard  of  a  flying  camp  into 
a  country  still  overrun  by  the  czar's  troops.  In  effect,  the 
emperor  of  Russia,  notwithstanding  the  first  article  of  the 
peace  of  Pruth,  by  which  he  engaged  himself  to  withdraw 
all  his  troops  from  Poland,  had  sent  fresh  ones  into  that 
kingdom ;  and  what  appears  surprising,  the  grand  seignor 
knew  nothing  of  the  matter. 

The  bad  policy  of  the  Porte  in  having  always, "through" 
vanity,  ambassadors  from  the  Christian  princes  at  Constan- 
tinople, and  not  maintaining  a  single  agent  at  the  Christian 
courts,  is  the  cause  that  these  discover  and  sometimes  con- 
duct the  most  secret  resolutions  of  the  sultan,  and  that  the 
divan  is  always  in  profound  ignorance  of  what  is  publicly 
going  on  in  the  Christian  world. 

The  sultan,  shut  up  in  his  seraglio  among  his  women  and 
eunuchs,  can  see  only  with  the  eyes  of  the  grand  vizier : 
that  minister,  as  inaccessible  as  his  master,  wholly  engrossed 
with  the  intrigues  of  the  seraglio,  and  having  no  foreign  cor- 
respondence, is  commonly  deceived  himself,  or  else  deceives 
the  sultan,  who  deposes  or  orders  him  to  be  strangled  for 
the  first  fault,  in  order  to  choose  another  minister  as  igno- 


KING  OF  SWEDEN  189 


rant  or  as  perfidious,  who  behaves  like  his  predecessors,  and 
60on  shares  the  same  fate. 

Such,  for  the  most  part,  is  the  inactivity  and  the  profound 
security  of  this  court,  that  were  the  Christian  princes  to 
league  themselves  against  it,  their  fleets  might  be  at  the  Dar 
danelles,  and  their  land  forces  at  the  gates  of  Adrianople, 
before  the  Turks  would  dream  of  defending  themselves; 
but  the  different  interests  which  will  ever  divide  the  chris- 
tian world,  will  preserve  the  Turks  from  a  fate  to  which,  by 
their  want  of  policy,  and  by  their  ignorance  of  the  art  of 
war,  both  by  sea  and  land,  they  seem  at  present  exposed. 

Achmet  was  so  little  informed  of  what  passed  in  Poland, 
that  he  sent  an  aga  to  see  whether  it  was  true  that  the  czar's 
troops  were  still  in  that  country ;  the  king  of  Sweden's  two 
secretaries,  who  understood  the  Turkish  language,  accom- 
panied the  aga,  and  were  to  serve  as  witnesses  against  him, 
in  case  he  should  make  a  false  report. 

This  aga  saw  the  truth  of  the  king's  assertion  with  his 
own  eyes,  and  informed  the  sultan  of  every  particular.  Ach- 
met, fired  with  indignation,  was  going  to  strangle  the  grand 
vizier;  but  the  favourite,  who  protected  him,  and  who  thought, 
he  should  have  occasion  for  him,  obtained  his  pardon,  and 
supported  him  some  time  longer  in  the  ministry. 

The  Russians  were  now  openly  espoused  by  the  vizier, 
and  secretly  by  Ali  Coumourgi,  who  had  changed  sides  ;  but 
the  sultan  was  so  provoked,  the  infraction  of  the  treaty  was 
so  manifest,  and  the  janissaries,  who  often  make  the  minis- 
ters, the  favourites,  and  even  the  sultans  tremble,  demanded 
war  with  such  clamour,  that  no  one  in  the  seraglio  durst  of- 
fer a  more  moderate  proposal. 

The  grand  seignor  immediately  committed  to  the  seven 
towers  the  Russian  ambassadors,  who  were  now  as  much 
accustomed  to  go  to  prison  as  to  an  audience.  War  was 
declared  afresh  against  the  czar,  the  horsetails  were  display- 
ed?  and  orders  were  given  to  all  the  pachas  to  assemble  an 
army  of  two  hundred  thousand  men.    The  sultan  himself 


190 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


quitted  Constantinople,  and  went  to  fix  his  court  at  Adriano- 
ple,  that  he  might  be  nearer  to  the  seat  of  war. 

In  the  mean  time,  a  solemn  embassy  sent  to  the  grand 
seignor  by  Augustus,  and  the  republic  of  Poland,  was  ad- 
vancing on  the  road  to  Adrianople.  At  the  head  of  the  em- 
bassy was  the  palatine  of  Mazovia,  with  a  retinue  of  above 
three  hundred  persons. 

Every  one  that  composed  the  embassy  was  seized  and  im- 
prisoned in  one  of  the  suburbs  of  the  city :  never  was  the 
king  of  Sweden's  party  more  sanguine  than  on  this  occasion  ; 
and  yet  this  great  preparation  was  rendered  useless,  and  all 
their  hopes  were  again  disappointed. 

If  we  may  believe  a  public  minister,  a  man  of  sagacity  and 
penetration,  who  resided  at  that  time  at  Constantinople, 
young  Coumourgi  had  already  other  designs  in  his  head  than 
that  of  disputing  a  desert  country  with  the  czar  by  a  doubt- 
ful war.  He  had  proposed  to  strip  the  Venetians  of  the  Pe- 
loponnesus, now  called  the  Morea,  and  to  make  himself  mas- 
ter of  Hungary. 

He  waited  only  for  the  execution  of  his  great  designs  till 
he  should  have  attained  the  post  of  grand  vizier,  from  which 
he  was  still  excluded  on  account  of  his  youth.  In  this  view 
it  was  more  for  his  advantage  to  be  the  ally,  than  the  enemy 
of  the  czar.*  It  was  neither  his  interest  nor  his  inclination, 
to  keep  the  king  of  Sweden  any  longer,  and  still  less  to  arm 
the  Turkish  empire  in  his  favour.  He  not  only  desired  to 
dismiss  that  prince,  but  he  openly  said,  that  for  the  future, 
no  christian  ambassador  ought  to  be  suffered  at  Constantino- 
ple ;  that  all  these  ministers  in  ordinary  were  but  so  many 
honourable  spies,  who  corrupted  or  betrayed  the  viziers,  and 
had  too  long  influenced  the  intrigues  of  the  seraglio ;  and 
that  the  Franks  settled  at  Pera,  and  in  the  streights  of  the 
Levant,  were  merchants,  who  needed  a  consul  only,  and  not 
an  ambassador.  The  grand  vizier,  who  owed  his  post  and 
his  life  to  the  favourite,  and,  what  was  more,  stood  in  fear 
of  him,  complied  with  his  intention  with  the  more  alacrity, 
as  he  had  sold  himself  to  the  Russians,  and  hoped  by  this 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


191 


means  to  be  revenged  on  the  king  of  Sweden,  who  had  en- 
deavoured to  ruin  him.  The  mufti,  a  creature  of  Ali  Cou- 
mourgi,  was  also  the  slave  to  his  will :  he  had  advised  the 
war  with  Russia,  when  the  favourite  wished  it ;  but  the  mo- 
ment this  young  man  changed  his  opinion,  he  pronounced  it 
to  be  unjust :  thus  was  the  army  hardly  assembled  before 
they  began  to  listen  to  proposals  of  accommodation.  The 
vice-chancellor  Schaffirof,  and  young  CzeremetofF,  hostages 
and  plenipotentiaries  of  the  czar  at  the  Porte,  promised, 
after  several  negotiations,  that  the  czar  should  withdraw  his 
troops  from  Poland.  The  grand  vizier,  who  well  knew  that 
the  czar  would  never  execute  this  treaty,  made  no  scruple 
to  sign  it ;  and  the  sultan,  satisfied  with  having,  in  appear- 
ance, imposed  laws  on  the  Russians,  remained  still  at 
Adrianople.  Thus,  in  less  than  six  months,  was  peace  rati- 
fied with  the  czar,  war  declared,  and  peace  renewed  again. 

The  principal  article  of  all  these  treaties  was  to  oblige 
the  king  of  Sweden  to  depart.  The  sultan,  however,  was 
not  willing  to  endanger  his  own  honour,  and  that  of  the  Ot- 
toman empire,  by  exposing  the  king  to  the  risk  of  his  being 
taken  by  his  enemies  on  the  road.  It  was  stipulated  that 
he  should  depart,  but  on  condition  that  the  ambassadors  of 
Poland  and  Muscovy  should  be  responsible  for  the  safety  of 
his  person  :  these  ambassadors  accordingly  swore  in  the 
name  of  their  masters,  that  neither  the  czar  nor  the  king  of 
Poland  should  molest  him  on  his  journey  ;  and  Charles  was 
to  engage,  on  his  part,  that  he  would  not  attempt  to  excite 
any  commotions  in  Poland.  The  divan  having  thus  settled 
the  fate  of  Charles,  Ismael,  seraskier  of  Bender,  repaired  to 
Varnitza,  where  the  king  was  encamped,  to  acquaint  him 
with  the  resolutions  of  the  Porte,  insinuating  to  him  with 
great  address,  that  there  was  no  longer  time  for  delay,  and 
that  he  must  necessarily  depart. 

Charles  made  no  other  answer,  than  that  the  grand  seignor 
had  promised  him  an  army  and  not  a  guard,  and  that  kings 
ought  to  keep  their  word. 

In  the  mean  time,  General  Fleming,  the  minister  and  fa- 


192 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


Tourite  of  Augustus,  maintained  a  secret  correspondence 
with  the  kam  of  Tartary  and  the  seraskier  of  Bender.  La 
Mare,  a  French  gentleman,  a  colonel  in  the  service  of 
Saxony,  had  made  more  than  one  journey  from  Bender  to 
Dresden,  and  all  these  journeys  were  suspicious. 

At  this  very  time,  the  king  of  Sweden  caused  a  courier, 
whom  Fleming  had  sent  to  the  Tartarian  prince,  to  be  ar- 
rested on  the  frontiers  of  Wallachia.  The  letters  were 
brought  to  him,  and  deciphered,  from  whence  it  clearly  ap- 
peared that  a  correspondence  was  carried  on  between  the 
Tartars  and  the  court  of  Dresden  ;  but  the  letters  were  con- 
ceived in  such  ambiguous  and  general  terms,  that  it  was  dif- 
ficult to  discover  whether  Augustus  only  intended  to  detach 
the  Turks  from  the  interest  of  Sweden,  or  whether  he  meant 
that  the  kam  should  deliver  Charles  to  his  Saxons  as  he 
conducted  him  back  to  Poland. 

It  seems  hard  to  believe  that  a  prince  so  generous  as 
Augustus  would,  by  seizing  the  person  of  the  king  of  Swe- 
don,  endanger  the  lives  of  his  ambassadors,  and  of  three 
hundred  Polish  gentlemen,  who  were  detained  at  Adriano- 
ple  as  pledges  for  Charles's  safety. 

But,  on  the  other  hand,  it  is  well  known,  that  Fleming, 
the  absolute  minister  of  Augustus,  was  a  subtle  man,  and 
not  very  scrupulous.  The  outrages  committed  on  the  king 
elector  by  the  king  of  Sweden  might  seem  to  render  any 
revenge  ^excusable ;  and  it  might  be  thought,  that  if  the 
court  of  Dresden  could  buy  Charles  from  the  kam  of  Tartary, 
they  would  easily  purchase  the  liberty  of  the  Polish  hostages 
at  the  Ottoman  Porte. 

All  these  reasons  were  discussed  by  the  king,  Mullern, 
his  privy  chancellor,  and  Grothusen,  his  favourite.  They 
read  the  letters  again  and  again ;  and,  their  unhappy  situa- 
tion making  them  more  suspicious,  they  resolved  to  believe 
the  worst. 

A  few  days  after,  the  king  was  confirmed  in  his  suspicions 
by  the  precipitate  departure  of  Count  Sapieha,  who  had 
taken  refuge  with  him,  and  now  quitted  him  abruptly  to  go 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


193 


to  Poland  to  throw  himself  into  the  arms  of  Augustus.  In 
any  other  situation  he  would  have  regarded  Sapieha  only  as 
a  malcontent ;  but  in  his  present  delicate  condition  he  did 
not  hesitate  to  believe  him  a  traitor.  The  repeated  importu- 
nities with  which  they  now  pressed  him  to  depart,  con- 
verted his  suspicions  into  certainty.  The  obstinacy  of  his 
temper  coinciding  with  these  appearances,  confirmed  him 
in  the  opinion  that  they  intended  to  betray  him,  and  deliver 
him  up  to  his  enemies,  though  this  plot  hath  never  been 
fully  proved. 

He  might  deceive  himself  in  supposing  that  Augustus  had 
made  a  bargain  with  the  Tartars  for  his  person  ;  but  he  was 
much  more  deceived  in  relying  on  the  succours  of  the  Otto- 
man court.    Be  that  as  it  will,  he  resolved  to  gain  time. 

He  told  the  pacha  of  Bender,  that  he  could  not  depart 
without  having  money  to  pay  his  debts  ;  for  though  his 
"  thaim"  had  for  a  long  time  been  restored  to  him,  his  libe- 
rality had  always  obliged  him  to  borrow.  The  pacha  asked 
him  how  much  he  wanted.  The  king  replied,  at  a  hazard, 
a  thousand  purses,  amounting  to  fifteen  hundred  thou- 
sand livres  of  our  money  in  the  best  Coin.  The  pacha 
wrote  to  the  Porte  ;  and  the  sultan,  in  the  room  of  a  thou- 
sand purses  which  Charles  had  asked,  sent  twelve  hundred, 
and  wrote  the  pacha  the  following  letter : 

Letter  from  the  Grand  Seignor  to  the  Pacha  of  Bender. 

"  The  purport  of  this  imperial  letter  is,  to  acquaint  you, 
that  upon  your  representation  and  recommendation,  and 
upon  that  of  the  most  noble  Delvet-Gherai-Kam  to  our  Su- 
blime Porte,  our  imperial  munificence  hath  granted  a  thou- 
sand purses  to  the  king  of  Sweden,  which  shall  be  sent  to 
Bender,  under  the  care  and  conduct  of  the  most  illustrious 
Mehemet  Pacha,  formerly  chioux-pacha,  to  remain^  in  your 
custody  till  the  time  of  the  departure  of  the  king  of  Sweden, 
whose  steps  God  direct,  and  then  to  be  given  to  him,  toge- 
ther with  two  hundred  purses  more,  as  an  overplus  of  our 
imperial  liberality,  which  exceeds  his  demands. 
I  17 


194 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


u  With  regard  to  the  route  of  Poland  which  he  is  deter- 
mined to  take,  you  and  the  kam  who  are  to  accompany  him, 
shall  take  such  wise  and  prudent  measures  as  may,  during 
the  whole  journey,  prevent,  as  well  the  troops  under  your 
command  as  the  retinue  of  the  king  of  Sweden,  from  com- 
mitting any  outrage,  cr  being  guilty  of  any  action  that  may 
be  reputed  contrary  to  the  peace  which  still  subsists  be- 
tween our  Sublime  Porte  and  the  kingdom  and  republic  of 
Poland,  to  the  end  the  king  may  pass  as  a  friend  under  our 
protection. 

"  By  doing  this  (which  you  must  expressly  recommend 
to  him  to  do)  he  will  receive  on  the  part  of  the  Poles  every 
honour  and  respect  due  to  his  majesty ;  of  which  we  have 
been  assured  by  the  ambassadors  of  King  Augustus  and  the 
republic,  who  on  this  condition  have  even  offered  them- 
selves, together  with  several  other  Polish  nobles,  if  we  re- 
quired it,  as  hostages  for  the  security  of  his  passage. 

u  When  the  time  which  you,  together  with  the  most  no- 
ble Delvet-Gherai,  shall  fix  for  the  march  shall  arrive,  you 
shall  put  yourselves  at  the  head  of  your  brave  soldiers, 
among  whom  shall  be  the  7*artarc;  having  the  kam  at  their 
head ;  and  you  shall  then  conduct  the  king  of  Sweden  with 
his  retinue. 

il  So  may  it  please  the  only  God,  the  Almighty,  to  direct 
your  steps  and  theirs.  The  pacha  of  Aulos  shall  remain  at 
Bender  with  a  body  of  spahis  and  another  of  janissaries, 
to  defend  it  in  your  absence;  and  in  following  our  imperial 
orders  and  intentions  in  all  these  points  and  articles,  you 
will  render  yourself  worthy  of  the  continuance  of  our  im- 
perial favour,  as  well  as  the  praise  and  recompense  due  to 
all  those  who  observe  them." 

Done  at  our  imperial  residence  of  Constantinople,  the 
2d  of  the  moon  Cheval,  1214  of  the  Hegira. 

During  the  time  they  were  waiting  for  this  answer  from 
the  grand  seignor,  the  king  wrote  to  the  Porte,  complaining 
of  the  treachery  of  which  he  imagined  the  kam  of  Tartary 


KING  OF  SWEDEN".  195 

to  be  guilty ;  but  all  the  passages  were  so  well  guarded,  and 
besides,  the  minister  was  against  him,  that  his  letters  never 
reached  the  sultan;  nay,  the  vizier  stopped  M.  des  Allerra 
from  coming  to  Adrianople,  where  the  Porte  then  was,  for 
fear  that  minister,  who  was  an  agent  of  the  king  of  Sweden, 
should  endeavour  to  disconcert  the  plan  which  he  had  formed 
for  obliging  him  to  depart. 

Charles,  enraged  to  see  himself  thus  hunted,  as  it  were, 
from  the  grand  seignor's  dominions,  determined  not  to  quit 
them  at  all. 

He  might  have  desired  to  return  through  the  territories  of 
Germany,  or  to  take  shipping  on  the  Black  Sea,  in  order  to 
sail  to  Marseilles  by  the  Mediterranean  ;  but  he  rather  chose 
to  ask  nothing,  and  to  wait  the  event. 

When  the  twelve  hundred  purses  were  arrived,  his  trea- 
surer Grothusen,  who  had  learned  the  Turkish  language  dur- 
ing his  long  stay  in  the  country,  went  to  wait  upon  the  pacha 
without  an  interpreter,  with  the  design  of  drawing  the  mo- 
ney from  him,  and  then  to  form  some  new  intrigue  at  the  Porte, 
being  continually  held  up  by  the  foolish  supposition,  that  the 
Swedish  party  would  at  last  be  able  to  arm  the  Ottoman  em- 
pire against  the  czar. 

Grothusen  told  the  pacha,  that  the  king  was  not  able  to 
prepare  his  equipage  without  money.  "But,"  said  the  pa- 
cha, "  we  shall  settle  all  the  expenses  of  your  departure ; 
your  master  has  no  occasion  to  be  at  any  expense  while  he 
continues  under  the  protection  of  mine." 

Grothusen  replied,  that  there  was  so  much  difference  be- 
tween the  equipages  of  the  Turks  and  those  of  the  Franks, 
that  they  were  obliged  to  have  recourse  to  the  artificers  of 
Swedeu  and  Poland,  resident  at  Varnitza. 

He  assured  him  that  his  master  was  disposed  to  depart, 
and  that  this  money  would  facilitate  and  hasten  his  departure. 
The  pacha,  too  credulous,  gave  the  twelve  hundred  purses! 
and  attended  the  king  in  a  few  days  after,  in  a  most  respect- 
ful manner,  to  receive  his  orders  for  his  departure. 

His  surprise  was  inconceivable,  when  the  king  told  him 


196  HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 

he  was  not  yet  ready  to  go,  and  that  he  wanted  a  thousand 
purses  more.  The  pacha,  confounded  at  this  answer,  was 
some  time  before  he  could  speak.  He  then  retired  to  a  win- 
dow, where  he  was  observed  to  shed  some  tears.  At  last, 
addressing  himself  to  the  king,  "  I  shall  lose  my  head,"  says 
he,  "  for  having  obliged  your  majesty  :  I  have  given  you  the 
twelve  hundred  purses  against  the  express  orders  of  my  so- 
vereign." Having  said  this,  he  withdrew,  oppressed  with 
grief. 

As  he  was  going,  the  king  stopped  him,  and  said,  that  he 
would  excuse  him  to  the  sultan.  "Ah  !"  replied  the  Turk, 
as  he  departed,  "  my  master  knows  not  how  to  excuse  faults, 
he  knows  only  to  punish  them." 

Ismael  Pacha  carried  this  piece  of  news  to  the  kam,  who 
had  received  the  same  orders  with  the  pacha,  not  to  suffer 
the  twelve  hundred  purses  to  be  given  to  the  king  before  his 
departure,  and  yet  consented  to  the  delivery  of  the  money ; 
he  was  as  apprehensive  as  the  pacha,  of  the  indignation  of 
the  grand  seignor.  They  both  wrote  to  the  Porte  to  justify 
themselves  ;  protesting  that  they  had  given  the  twelve  hun- 
dred purses  upon  the  solemn  promises  of  the  king's  minister 
that  he  would  depart  without  delay ;  and  beseeching  his 
highness  not  to  impute  the  king's  refusal  to  their  disobedi- 
ence. 

Charles  still  persisting  in  the  idea,  that  the  kam  and  pacha 
wanted  to  deliver  him  up  to  his  enemies,  ordered  M.  Funk, 
at  that  time  his  envoy  at  the  Ottoman  court,  to  lay  his  com- 
plaints against  them  before  the  sultan,  and  to  ask  a  thousand 
purses  more.  His  own  great  generosity,  and  the  little  -ac- 
count he  made  of  money,  hindered  him  from  seeing  the 
meanness  of  this  proposal.  He  did  it  merely  to  have  a  re- 
fusal, and  in  order  to  have  a  fresh  pretext  for  not  departing. 
But  it  is  to  be  reduced  to  strange  extremities,  to  stand  in 
need  of  such  artifices.  Savari,  his  interpreter,  an  artful 
and  enterprising  man,  carried  his  letter  to  Adrianople  in  spite 
of  the  strictness  which  the  grand  vizier  had  used  to  guard 
the  passes. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


197 


Funk  was  obliged  to  make  this  dangerous  demand.  AH 
the  answer  he  received  was,  to  be  thrown  into  prison.  The 
sultan,  enraged,  convoked  an  extraordinary  divan,  and,  what 
very  seldom  happens,  spoke  himself  on  the  occasion.  His 
speech,  according  to  the  translation  then  made  of  it,  was  as 
follows  : 

"  I  have  scarce  known  the  king  of  Sw,e<!en  but  by  his  de- 
feat at  Pultowa,  and  by  the  prayer  he  preferred  to  me,  to 
grant  him  an  asylum  in  my  dominions.  I  have  not,  I  be- 
lieve, any  need  of  him;  nor  any  reason  either  to  love  or 
fear  him  :  notwithstanding,  without  consulting  any  other  mo- 
tive than  the  hospitality  of  a  Mussulman,  and  my  own  gene- 
rosity, which  sheds  the  dew  of  its  favours  upon  the  great  as 
well  as  the  small ;  upon  strangers  as  well  as  my  own  sub- 
jects :  I  have  received  and  succoured  him  with  all  things, 
himself,  his  ministers,  officers,  and  soldiers,  and  have  not 
ceased  for  these  three  years  and  a  half  to  load  him  with 
presents. 

"  I  have  granted  him  a  considerable  guard  to  conduct  him 
into  his  own  kingdom,  fie  asked  a  thousand  purses  to  de- 
fray some  expenses,  though  I  pay  all.  Instead  of  a  thousand, 
I  granted  him  twelve  hundred.  After  having  got  these  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  seraskier  of  Bender,  he  asks  a  thousand 
purses  more,  and  refuses  to  depart,  under  a  pretence  that  the 
guard  is  too  small,  whereas  it  is  but  too  large  to  pass  through 
the  country  of  a  friend. 

"  I  ask,  then,  whether  it  be  to  violate  the  laws  of  hospi- 
tality, to  send  back  this  prince;  and  whether  foreign  powers 
ought  to  accuse  me  of  violence  and  injustice,  in  case  I  should 
be  obliged  to  compel  him  by  force  to  depart." 

All  the  divan  answered,  that  the  grand  seignor  acted  with 
justice.  The  mufti  declared  that  hospitality  from  Mus- 
sulmen  toward  infidels  was  not  commanded,  and  much  less 
toward  the  ungrateful ;  and  he  gave  his  fetfa,  a  kind  of 
mandate,  which  generally  accompanies  the  important  orders 
of  the  grand  seignor.    These  fetfas  are  revered  as  oracles*, 

17* 


196 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


though  the  very  persons  by  whom  they  are  given,  are  as 

much  slaves  to  the  sultan  as  any  others. 

The  order  and  fetfa  were  carried  to  Bender  by  the  Boyouk 
Imraour,  grand  master  of  the  horse,  and  a  chiaou  pacha, 
first  usher.  The  pacha  of  Bender  received  the  order  at  the 
house  of  the  kam  of  Tartary,  from  whence  he  immediately 
repaired  to  Varnitza,  to  ask  the  king  whether  he  would  de- 
part as  a  friend,  or  reduce  him  to  the  necessity  of  putting  the 
orders  of  the  sultan  in  execution. 

Charles,  thus  menaced,  was  not  master  of  his  passion. 
"Obey  your  master  if  you  dare,"  said  he,  "and  leave  my 
presence."  The  pacha,  fired  with  indignation,  returned  at 
full  gallop,  contrary  to  the  usual  custom  of  the  Turks  ;  and 
chancing  to  meet  Fabricius  in  his  way,  he  cried  out  to  him, 
without  checking  his  horse,  "  the  king  will  not  hear  reason; 
you  will  see  strange  things  presently."  The  same  day  he 
discontinued  the  supply  of  the  king's  provisions,  and  remo- 
ved his  guard  of  janissaries.  He  caused  intimation  to  be 
given  to  all  the  Poles  and  Cossacks  at  Varnitza,  that  if  they 
wished  to  have  any  provisions,  they  must  quit  the  camp  of 
the  king  of  Sweden,  and  repair  to  Bender,  and  put  them- 
selves under  the  protection  of  the  Porte.  They  all  obeyed, 
and  left  the  king  without  any  other  attendant  than  the  offi- 
cers of  his  household,  and  three  hundred  Swedish  soldiers 
to  make  head  against  twenty  thousand  Tartars,  and  six 
thousand  Turks. 

There  was  now  no  provision  in  the  camp,  either  for  the 
men  or  their  horses.  The  king  ordered  twenty  of  the  fine 
Arabian  horses  which  had  been  sent  him  by  the  grand  seign- 
or,  to  be  shot  without  the  camp,  saying,  "  I  will  have  none 
of  their  provisions  nor  their  horses."  This  was  an  excel- 
lent regale  to  the  Tartars,  who,  as  is  well  known,  think 
horse  flesh  delicious  food.  In  the  mean  time,  the  Turks  and 
Tartars  invested  the  king's  little  camp  on  every  side. 

The  king,  without  the  least  discomposure,  made  a  regular 
intrenchment  with  his  three  hundred  Swedes,  in  which  work 
he  himself  assisted  ;  his  chancellor,  his  treasurer,  his  secre- 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


199 


taries,  his  valets-de-chambre,  and  all  bis  domestics,  giving 
likewise  their  assistance.  Some  banicadoed  the  windows, 
and  others  fastened  beams  behind  the  doors,  in  the  form  of 
buttresses. 

As  soon  as  the  house  was  sufficiently  barricadoed,  and  the 
king  had  gone  round  his  pretended  fortifications,  he  sat 
down  to  chess  with  his  favourite  Grothusen  with  as  much 
tranquillity  as  if  every  thing  was  in  the  greatest  security. 
Happily  M.  Fabricius,  the  envoy  of  Holstein,  did  not  lodge 
at  Varnitza,  but  at  a  small  village  between  Varnitza  and  Ben- 
der, where  Mr.  Jeffreys,  the  English  envoy  to  the  king  of 
Sweden,  likewise  resided.  These  two  ministers,  seeing  the 
storm  ready  to  burst,  took  upon  themselves  the  office  of  me- 
diators between  the  Turks  and  the  king.  The  kam,  and  es- 
pecially the  pacha  of  Bender,  who  had  no  mind  to  offer  vio- 
lence to  the  Swedish  monarch,  received  with  eagerness  the 
offers  of  these  two  ministers.  They  had  two  conferences  at 
Bender,  in  which  they  were  assisted  by  the  usher  of  the  se- 
raglio, and  the  grand  master  of  the  horse,  who  had  brought 
the  sultan's  order,  and  the  mufti's  fetfa. 

M.  Fabricius*  declared  to  them,  that  his  Swedish  majesty 
had  many  cogent  reasons  to  believe  that  they  meant  to  de- 
liver him  up  to  his  enemies  in  Poland.  The  kam,  the  pacha, 
and  all  the  rest,  swore  by  their  heads,  and  called  God  to 
witness,  that  they  detested  so  horrible  a  perfidy,  and  that 
they  would  shed  the  last  drop  of  their  blood,  rather  than  suf- 
fer such  disrespect  to  be  shown  to  the  king  in  Poland  ;  add- 
ing, that  they  had  in  their  hands  the  Russian  and  Polish 
ambassadors,  who  would  answer  with  their  lives  for  the  least 
affront  that  should  be  offered  to  the  king  of  Swecifcn.  In 
fine,  they  complained  bitterly  that  the  ting  should  conceive 
6uch  injurious  suspicions  against  people  who  had  received 
him  so  politely,  and  treated  him  with  so  much  humanity. 
Though  oaths  are  frequently  the  language  of  perfidy,  Fabri- 
cius suffered  himself  to  be  persuaded  by  the  Turks :  he 


The  whole  of  this  account  is  related  by  M.  Fabricius  in  his  letters. 


200 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XIT. 


thought  he  could  discern  in  their  protestations  that  air  of 
truth  which  falsehood  can,  at  best,  but  imitate  imperfectly. 
He  knew  perfectly  well  there  had  been  a  secret  correspon- 
dence between  the  kam  of  Tartary  and  King  Augustus  ;  but 
he  was  at  last  persuaded,  that  the  only  end  of  their  negotia- 
tion was  to  oblige  Charles  XII.  to  quit  the  dominions  of  the 
grand  seignor.  Whether  Fabricius  deceived  himself  or  not, 
he  assured  them  that  he  would  represent  to  the  king  the  in- 
justice of  his  suspicions.  "But,"  adds  he,  u  do  you  intend 
to  compel  him  to  depart?"  "Yes,"  says  the  pacha,  "  such 
is  the  order  of  our  master."  He  then  entreated  them  to  con- 
sider seriously  whether  that  order  implied  that  they  should 
shed  the  blood  of  a  crowned  head.  "  Yes,"  replies  the  l^am, 
in  a  passion,  "  if  that  crowned  head  disobeys  the  grand 
seignor  in  his  dominions." 

In  the  mean  time,  every  thing  being  ready  for  the  assault, 
the  death  of  Charles  XII.  seemed  inevitable ;  but  the  order 
of  the  sultan  not  expressly  saying  whether  they  were  to  kill 
him  in  case  of  resistance,  the  pacha  prevailed  on  the  kam  to 
let  him  despatch  an  express  to  Adrianople,  where  the  grand 
seignor  then  resided,  to  receive  the  last  orders  of  his  high- 
ness. 

M.  Jeffreys  and  M.  Fabricius,  having  procured  this  short 
respite,  hastened  to  acquaint  the  king  with  it :  they  arrived 
with  all  the  eagerness  of  people  who  bring  good  news  ;  but 
were  received  very  coldly  :  he  called  them  officious  media- 
tors, and  still  persisted  in  his  opinion,  that  the  order  of  the 
sultan,  and  the  fetfa  of  the  mufti,  were  both  forged,  inasmuch 
as  they  had  sent  to  the  Porte  for  fresh  orders. 

The  English  minister  retired,  firmly  resolved  to  interfere  no 
more  in  the  affairs  of  so  inflexible  a  prince.  M.  Fabricius, 
beloved  by  the  king,  and  more  accustomed  to  his  humour 
than  the  English  minister,  remained  with  him,  to  conjure 
him  not  to  hazard  so  precious  a  life  on  such  an  unnecessary 
occasion. 

The  king,  for  answer,  showed  him  his  fortifications;  and 
begged  he  would  employ  his  mediation  only  to  procure  him 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


201 


some  provisions.  The  Turks  were  easily  prevailed  upon  to 
allow  provisions  to  be  convened  to  the  king's  camp  until  the 
return  of  the  courier  from  Adrianople.  The  kam  himself 
had  strictly  enjoined  his  Tartars,  who  were  eager  for  pillage, 
not  to  make  any  attempt  against  the.  Swedes  till  the  arrival 
of  fresh  orders  ;  so  that  Charles  went  sometimes  out  of  his 
camp  with  forty  horse,  and  rode  through  the  midst  of  the 
Tartars  ;  who,  with  great  respect,  left  him  a  free  passage  ; 
he  would  even  ride  up  in  front  of  their  lines,  which  they 
opened  rather  than  resist  him. 

At  last  the  order  of  the  grand  seignor  being  come,  to  put 
to  the  sword  all  the  Swedes  who  should  make  the  least  re- 
sistance, and  not  even  to  spare  the  life  of  the  king,  the 
pacha  had  the  complaisance  to  show  the  order  to  M.  Fabri- 
cius,  to  the  end  that  he  might  make  his  last  effort  to  turn 
the  obstinacy  of  Charles.  Fabricius  went  immediately  to 
acquaint  him  with  these  sad  tidings.  "  Have  you  seen  the 
order  you  speak  of  ?"  said  the  king.  "Yes,"  replied  Fa- 
bricius. "  Well,  then,  go  tell  them,  in  my  name,  that  this 
second  order  is  another  forgery,  and  that  I  will  not  depart." 
Fabricius  threw  himself  at  his  feet,  fell  into  a  passion,  and 
reproached  him  with  his  obstinacy,  but  all  to  no  purpose. 
"  Return  to  your  Turks,"  said  the  king  to  him,  smiling; 
"if  they  attack  me,  I  shall  know  how  to  defend  myself." 

The  king's  chaplains  likewise  threw  themselves  on  their 
knees  before  him,  conjuring  him  not  to  expose  to  certain 
death  the  unhappy  remains  of  Pultowa,  and  especially  his 
own  sacred  person  ;  assuring  him  that  resistance  in  such  a 
case  was  altogether  unjustifiable ;  an&  that  it  was  a  direct 
violation  of  all  the  laws  of  hospitality,  to  resolve  to  continue 
against  their  will  with  strangers  who  had  so  long  and  so 
generously  supported  him.  The  king,  though  he  had  not 
been  angry  with  Fabricius,  fell  into  a  passion  with  his 
priests^  and  told  them  that  he  had  taken  them  to  pray  for 
him,  and  not  to  give  him  advice. 

The  Generals  Hord  and  Dardoff,  whose  sentiments  had 
always  been  against  hazarding  a  battle  which  could  not  fail 


202  HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


of  proving  unsuccessful,  showed  the  king  their  breasts  i 
covered  with  wounds  which  they  had  received  in  his  ser-  , 
vice,  and  assured  him  that  they  were  ready  to  lay  down 
their  lives  for  him ;  but  begged  that  it  might  be,  at  least, 
upon  a  more  necessary  occasion.  "  I  know,  by  your  wounds 
and  my  own,"  says  Charles  to  them,  "  that  we  have  fought 
valiantly  together.  You  have  done  your  duty  hitherto  ;  do 
it  to-day  likewise."  Nothing  now  remained  but  to  obey. 
Every  one  was  ashamed  not  to  court  death  with  their  king. 
This  prince,  being  now  prepared  for  the  assault,  flattered 
himself  in  secret  that  he  should  have  the  honour  of  sus- 
taining, with  three  hundred  Swedes,  the  efforts  of  a  whole 
army.  He  assigned  to  every  man  his  post :  his  chancellor, 
Mullern,  and  the  secretary,  Empreus,  and  his  clerks,  were 
to  defend  the  chancery-house ;  Baron  Fief,  at  the  head  of 
the  officers  of  the  kitchen,  were  stationed  at  another  post ; 
the  grooms  of  the  stable  and  the  cooks  had  another  place  to 
guard  ;  for  with  him  every  one  was  a  soldier  :  he  then  rode 
from  the  intrenchments  to  his  house,  promising  rewards  to 
every  one,  creating  officers,  and  assuring  them  that  he  would 
make  captains  of  the  very  meanest  of  his  servants  who 
6hould  right  with  courage. 

It  was  not  long  before  they  beheld  the  army  of  the  Turks 
and  Tartars  advancing  to  attack  this  little  intrenchment  with 
ten  pieces  of  cannon  and  two  mortars.  The*  horses'  tails 
waved  in  the  air ;  the  clarions  sounded  ;  the  cries  of  "  Alia, 
Alia,"  were  heard  on  every  side.  Baron  Grothusen  re- 
marked, that  the  Turks  did  not  mix  in  their  cries  any  in- 
jurious reflections  against  the  king,  but  that  they  only  called 
him,  "Demirbash,"  (head  of  iron.)  He,  therefore,  in- 
stantly resolved  to  go  out  of  the  camp  alone  and  unarmed ; 
and  accordingly  advanced  to  the  lines  of  the  janissaries, 
most  of  whom  had  received  money  from  him.  "  What,  my 
friends,"  says  he  to  them  in  their  own  language,  u  are  you 
come  to  massacre  three  hundred  Swedes  who  are  defence- 
less ?  You,  brave  janissaries,  who  have  pardoned  fifty 
thousand  Russians  upon  their  crying  ammany  (pardon,)  have 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


203 


you  forgot  the  many  favours  you  have  received  from  us  ? 
and  would  you  assassinate  this  great  king  of  Sweden  whom 
you  love,  and  whose  liberality  you  have  so  often  experi- 
enced ?  My  friends,  he  desires  but  three  days,  and  the 
orders  of  the  sultan  are  not  so  strict  as  you  are  taught  to 
believe. " 

These  words  produced  an  effect  which  Grothusen  himself 
could  not  have  expected.  The  janissaries  swore  by  their 
beards  that  they  would  not  attack  the  king,  but  would  give 
him  the  three  days  he  demanded.  In  vain  the  signal  for  as- 
sault was  given  ;  the  janissaries,  so  far  from  obeying,  threat- 
ened to  fall  upon  their  commander,  if  the  three  days  were 
not  granted  to  the  king  of  Sweden.  They  then  went  to  the 
pacha  of  Bender's  tent,  crying  out  that  the  sultan's  orders 
were  forged. 

To  this  unexpected  sedition,  the  pacha  had  nothing  to  op- 
pose but  patience.  He  affected  a  satisfaction  at  the  gene- 
rous resolution  of  the  janissaries,  and  ordered  them  to  re- 
turn to  Bender.  The  kam  of  Tartary  being  an  impetuous 
man,  would  have  given  the  assault  immediately  with  his 
own  troops ;  but  the  pacha,  who  was  not  willing  that  the 
Tartars  should  have  all  the  honour  of  taking  the  king,  while 
he  himself,  perhaps,  might  be  punished  for  the  disobedience 
of  the  janissaries,  persuaded  the  kam  to  wait  till  the  next 
day. 

The  pacha,  on  his  return  to  Bender,  assembled  all  the  of- 
ficers of  the  janissaries,  and  the  oldest  soldiers,  to  whom  he 
read,  and  also  showed  them  the  positive  order  of  the  sultan, 
together  with  the  mufti's  fetfa.  Sixty  of  the  oldest,  with 
venerable  white  beards,  who  had  received  a  thousand  pre- 
sents from  the  hands  of  the  king  of  Sweden,  proposed  to  go 
to  him  in  person,  to  intreat  him  to  put  himself  into  their 
hands,  and  to  permit  them  to  serve  him  as  guards. 

The  pacha  agreed  to  it,  as  there  was  no  expedient  he 
would  not  have  adopted,  rather  than  have  been  reduced 
to  the  necessity  of  killing  this  prince.  These  sixty  old  vete- 
rans accordingly  repaired  the  next  morning  to  Varnitza,  ha- 


204 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII 


ving  nothing  in  their  hands  but  long  white  rods,  the  on! 
arms  of  the  janissaries  when  they  are  not  at  war ;  for  th 
Turks  regard  as  a  barbarous  custom  the  christian  manner 
wearing  swords  in  time  of  peace,  and  going  armed  into  th 
houses  of  their  friends,  and  the  churches. 

They  addressed  themselves  to  Baron  Grothusen  and  Cha 
cellor  Mullern  :  they  told  them  that  they  came  to  serve  faith- 
ful guards  to  the  king ;  and  that  if  he  pleased,  they  would 
conduct  him  to  Adrianople,  where  he  might  himself  speak 
to  the  grand  seignor.  At  the  time  they  were  making  this 
proposal,  the  king  was  reading  letters  which  were  brought 
from  Constantinople,  and  which  Fabricius,  who  could  no 
longer  attended  him  in  person,  had  sent  him  secretly  by  a 
janissary.  They  were  from  Count  Poniatowsky,  who  could 
neither  serve  him  at  Bender  nor  Adrianople,  being  detained 
at  Constantinople  by  order  of  the  Porte,  from  the  time  of  his 
making  the  imprudent  demand  of  the  thousand  purses.  He  in- 
formed the  king,  "that  the  orders  of  the  sultan  to  seize  or  mas- 
sacre his  royal  person,  in  case  of  resistance,  were  but  too  true ; 
that  indeed  the  sultan  was  deceived  by  his  ministers  ;  but  that 
the  more  he  was  imposed  upon,  he  would  for  that  very  reason 
be  the  more  faithfully  obeyed  ;  that  he  must  submit  to  the 
times,  and  yield  to  necessity;  that  he  took  the  liberty  to  ad- 
vise him  to  try  every  expedient  with  the  ministers  by  way 
of  negotiations  ;  not  to  be  inflexible  in  a  matter  which  re- 
'  quired  the  gentlest  management ;  and  to  expect  from  time 
and  good  policy,  a  remedy  for  that  evil,  which,  by  violent 
measures,  would  be  only  rendered  incurable. " 

But  neither  the  proposals  of  the  old  janissaries,  nor  the 
letters  of  Poniatowsky,  could  give  the  king  even  an  idea  that 
he  could  yield  without  incurring  dishonour.  He  chose  ra- 
ther to  perish  by  the  hands  of  the  Turks,  than  to  be  in  any 
respect  their  prisoner ;  he  therefore  dismissed  the  janissaries 
without  deigning  to  see  them,  and  sent  them  word,  that  if 
they  did  not  immediately  depart,  he  would  cut  of  their 
beards;  which,  in  the  eastern  countries,  is  esteemed  the 
most  outrageous  of  all  affronts. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


205 


*  The  old  men,  filled  with  the  most  lively  indignation,  re- 
turned home,  crying  out  as  they  went,  "  Ah,  this  head  of 
iron  !  since  he  will  perish,  let  him  perish."  They  went 
and  gave  the  pacha  an  account  of  their  Commission,  and  in- 
formed their  comrades  at  Bender  of  the  strange  reception 
they  had  met  with.  Every  one  then  swore  to  obey  the  pa- 
cha's orders  without  delay,  and  were  as  impatient  to  begin 
the  assault  as  they  had  been  backward  the  day  before. 

The  word  of  command  was  immediately  given  ;  the  Turks 
marched  up  to  the  intrenchments  ;  the  Tartars  were  already 
waiting  for  them,  and  the  cannon  began  to  play.  The  ja- 
nissaries on  the  one  side,  and  the  Tartars  on  the  other,  in  an 
instant  forced  the  little  camp  :  hardly  twenty  Swedes  drew 
their  swords ;  the  whole  three  hundred  were  surrounded 
and  made  prisoners  without  resistance.  The  king  was  then 
on  horseback,  between  his  house  and  his  camp,  with  the 
Generals  Hord,  Dardoff,  and  Sparre ;  and  seeing  that  all  his 
soldiers  were  taken  prisoners  before  his  eyes,  he  said,  with 
great  composure,  to  these  three  officers,  "  come,  let  us  go 
and  defend  the  house.  We  will  fight,"  adds  he  with  a  smile, 
" pro  aris  and  focis.'7 

Accordingly,  he  galloped  with  them  up  to  the  house,  in 
which  he  had  placed  about  forty  domestics  as  sentinels,  and 
which  he  had  fortified  in  the  best  manner  he  was  able. 

These  generals,  accustomed  as  they  were  to  the  daunt- 
less intrepidity  of  their  master,  Vere  surprised  to  see  him.  re- 
solve in  cold  blood,  and  even  with  an  air  of  pleasantry,  to 
defend  himself  against  ten  pieces  of  cannon  and  a  whole 
army ;  they  followed  him  with  some  guards  and  domestics, 
making  in  all  about  twenty  persons. 

When  they  came  to  the  door,  they  found  it  besieged  by 
the  janissaries;  two  hundred  Turks  and  Tartars  had  already 
entered  by  a  window,  and  had  made  themselves  masters  of 
all  the  apartments,  except  a  large  hall,  into  which  the  king's 
domestics  had  retired.  This  hall  was  happily  near  the  door 
at  which  the  king  designed  to  enter  with  his  little  troop  of 

18 


206 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


twenty  persons ;  he  threw  himself  off  his  horse  with  pistol 
and  sword  in  hand,  and  his  followers  did  the  same. 

The  janissaries  fell  upon  him  on  all  sides  :  they  were  ani- 
mated by  the  promise  which  the  pacha  had  made,  of  eight 
ducats  of  gold  to  every  one  who  should  only  touch  his  clothes 
in  case  they  could  take  him.  He  wounded  and  killed  who- 
ever approached  his  person.  A  janissary  whom  he  had 
wounded,  clapped  his  carbine  to  his  face,  and  had  not  his 
arm  been  pushed  aside  by  the  motion  of  the  crowd,  which 
moved  backwards  and  forwards  like  a  wave,  the  king  had 
certainly  been  killed.  The  ball  grazed  upon  his  nose,  and 
carried  away  with  it  the  tip  of  his  ear,  and  then  broke  the 
arm  of  General  Hord,  whose  destiny  it  was  to  be  always 
wounded  by  the  side  of  his  master. 

The  king  plunged  his  sword  in  the  janissary's  breast;  at 
the  same  time  his  domestics,  who  were  shut  up  in  the  great 
hall,  opened  the  door ;  the  king  entered  like  an  arrow,  fol- 
lowed by  his  little  troop ;  they  instantly  shut  the  door,  and 
barricadoed  it  with  whatever  they  could  find.  In  this  man- 
ner was  Charles  XII.  shut  up  in  a  hall  with  all  his  attendants, 
consisting  of  about  sixty  men,  officers,  guards,  secretaries, 
valets-de-chambre,  and  domestics  of  every  kind. 

The  janissaries  and  Tartars  pillaged  the  rest  of  the  house, 
and  filled  the  apartments.  "  Come,"  says  the  king,  "  let  us 
go  and  drive  these  barbarians  out  of  my  house  :"  and  put- 
ting himself  at  the  head  of  his  men,  he,  with  his  own  hands, 
opened  the  door  of  the  haU  that  led  to  his  bed-chamber, 
rushed  into  the  room,  and  fired  upon  those  who  were  plun- 
dering. 

The  Turks,  loaded  with  spoil,  and  terrified  at  the  sudden 
appearance  of  the  king,  whom  they  had  been  accustomed  to 
respect,  threw  down  their  arms,  leaped  out  of  the  window, 
or  retired  to  the  cellars  :  the  king  taking  advantage  of  their 
confusion,  and  his  own  men  being  animated  with  success, 
they  pursued  the  Turks  from  chamber  to  cli amber,  killing 
or  wounding  those  who  had  not  made  their  escape  ;  and  in 
a  quarter  of  an  hour  cleared  the  house  of  their  enemies. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


207 


In  the  heat  of  the  fight,  the  king  perceived  two  janissa- 
ries who  had  hid  themselves  under  his  bed :  one  of  them 
he  killed  with  his  sword ;  the  other  asked  for  mercy,  by 
crying  "  amman."  "  I  give  thee  thy  life,"  said  the  king  to 
him,  "  on  condition  that  you  go  and  give  to  the  pacha  a  faith- 
ful account  of  what  you  have  seen."  The  Turk  readily 
promised  to  do  this,  and  was  allowed  to  leap  out  at  the  win- 
dow like  the  rest. 

The  Swedes  being  at  last  masters  of  the  house,  again  shut 
and  barricadoed  the  windows.  They  were  not  in  want  of 
arms,  a  ground  room  full  of  muskets  and  powder  having  es- 
caped the  tumultuary  search  of  the  janissaries.  These  they 
employed  to  good  service ;  they  fired  through  the  windows 
almost  close  upon  the  Turks,  of  whom,  in  less  than  half  a 
quarter  of  an  hour,  they  killed  two  hundred. 

The  cannon  still  played  upon  the  house ;  yet,  as  the  stones 
were  very  soft,  they  only  made  some  holes,  but  demolished 
nothing. 

The  kam  of  Tartary  and  the  pacha,  who  were  desirous  of 
£  taking  the  king  alive,  and  being  ashamed  to  lose  so  many  men, 
and  to  employ  a  whole  army  against  sixty  persons,  thought 
it  advisable  to  set  fire  to  the  house,  in  order  to  oblige  the 
king  to  surrender.  They  caused  some  arrows,  twisted  about 
with  lighted  matches,  to  be  shot  upon  the  roof,  and  against 
the  doors  and  windows,  and  the  house  was  in  flames  in  a 
moment.  The  roof  all  on  fire,  was  ready  to  tumble  upon 
the  Swedes.  The  king,  with  great  calmness,  gave  orders  to 
extinguish  the  fire  :  finding  a  little  barrel  of  liquor,  he  took 
it  up  himself,  and,  assisted  by  two  Swedes,  threw  it  upon  the 
place  where  the  fire  was  most  violent.  It  happened  that 
the  barrel  was  filled  with  brandy  ;  but  the  hurry  insepara- 
ble from  such  a  scene  of  confusion,  hindered  them  from  think- 
ing of  it  in  time.  The  fire  now  raged  with  double  fury; 
the  king's  apartment  was  entirely  consumed;  the  great  hall 
where  the  Swedes  were  was  filled  with  &  terrible  smoke, 
mixed  with  sheets  of  flame,  which  entered  in  at  the  doors  of 
the  neighbouring  apartments ;  one  half  of  the  roof  had  sunk 


208 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


within  the  house,  and  the  other  fell  on  the  outside,  cracking 
amidst  the  flames. 

In  this  extremity,  a  guard  called  Walberg  ventured  to  cry- 
out,  that  it  was  necessary  to  surrender.  "  There  is  a  strange 
man,"  said  the  king,  "  to  imagine  that  it  is  not  more  glorious 
to  be  burnt  than  taken  prisoner!"  Another  sentinel,  named 
Rosen,  had  the  presence  of  mind  to  observe,  that  the  chan- 
cery-house, which  was  but  fifty  paces  distant,  had  a  stone 
roof,  and  was  proof  against  fire  ;  that  they  ought  to  sally 
forth,  take  possession  of  that  house,  and  then  defend  them- 
selves. "  There  is  a  true  Swede  for  you,"  cried  the  king, 
embracing  the  sentinel,  and  made  him  a  colonel  upon  the  spot. 
"  Come  on,  my  friends,"  says  he,  "  take  as  much  powder  and 
ball  with  you  as  you  can,  and  let  us  take  possession  of  the 
chancery  sword  in  hand." 

•"The  Turks,  who  all  the  while  surrounded  the  house,  saw 
with  admiration,  mixed  with  terror,  the  Swedes  continue  in 
the  house  all  in  flames ;  but  their  astonishment  was  still 
greater,  when  they  saw  the  door  open,  and  the  king  and  his 
followers  rushing  out  upon  them  like  so  many  madmen. 
Charles  and  his  principal  officers  were  armed  with  swords 
and  pistols  :  every  man  fired  two  pistols  at  once,  as  soon  as 
the  doors  were  opened ;  and,  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye, 
throwing  away  their  pistols  and  drawing  their  swords,  they 
made  the  Turks  recoil  above  fifty  paces.  But  in  a  moment 
after,  this  little  troop  was  surrounded ;  the  king,  who  was 
booted,  according  to  his  usual  custom,  entengled  himself  with 
his  spurs,  and  fell ;  one-and-twenty  janissaries  at  once  sprung 
upon  him ;  he  immediately  threw  up  his  sword  into  the  air, 
to  save  himself  the  mortification  of  sunendering  it.  The 
Turks  carried  him  to  the  quarters  of  the  pacha,  some  taking 
hold  of  his  legs,  and  others  of  his  arms,  in  the  same  manner 
as  sick  persons  are  carried  to  prevent  their  being  hurt. 

The  moment  the  king  found  himself  taken  prisoner,  the 
violence  of  his  temper,  and  the  fury  which  such  a  long  and 
desperate  fight  must  have  naturally  inspired,  gave  place  at 
once  to  a  mild  and  gentle  behaviour.    He  dropped  not  a 


£ING  OF  SWEDEN. 


209 


Word  of  impatience,  nor  was  an  angry  look  to  be  seen  in  his 
face.  He  regarded  the  janissaries  with  a  smiling  counte- 
nance ;  and  they  carried  him  off,  crying  "  Alia,"  with  an  in- 
dignation mixed  at  the  same  time  with  respect.  His  officers 
were  taken  at  the  same  time,  and  stripped  by  the  Turks  and 
Tartars.  It  was  on  the  12th  of  February,  1713,  that  this 
strange  event  happened,  which  was  followed  with  very  sin- 
gular consequences.* 

*M.  Norberg,  who  was  not  present  at  this  event,  hath  in  this  particular 
part  of  his  history  only  copied  the  account  from  M.  de  Voltaire  ;  but  he 
has  mangled  it,  he  has  suppressed  several  interesting  circumstances,  and 
has  not  been  able  to  justify  the  temerity  of  Charles  XII.  All  that  he  has 
been  able  to  say  against  M.  de  Voltaire,  with  regard  to  the  affair  of  Ben- 
der, is  reducible  to  the  adventure  of  the  Sieur  Fredericus,  valet-de-cham- 
bre  to  the  king  of  Sweden,  who  some  pretended  was  burnt  in  the  king's 
house,  and  who,  according  to  others,  was  cut  in  two  by  the  Tartars.  La 
Mottray  alleges  likewise,  that  the  king  of  Sweden  did  not  use  the  words 
"  we  will  fight  pro  aris  and  focis  :"  but  M.  Fabricius,  who  was  present, 
affirms,  that  the  king  did  pronounce  these  words,  that  La  Mottray  was 
not  near  enough  to  hear  them,  and  that  if  he  had,  he  was  not  capable  of 
comprehending  their  meaning,  as  he  did  not  understand  a  word  of  Latin. 


18» 


210 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XH 


BOOK  VII. 

Argttment. — The  Turks  convey  Charles  to  Demirtash. — King  Stanis- 
laus taken  thither  at  the  same  time. — The  bold  action  of  M.  de  Vil- 
lelongue. — Revolutions  in  the  seraglio. — Battle  in  Pomerania. — Al- 
tena  burnt  by  the  Swedes. — Charles  sets  out  on  his  return  to  his  own 
dominions. — His  strange  manner  of  travelling. — His  arrival  at  Stral- 
sund. — His  misfortunes. — Successes  of  Peter  the  Great. — His  trium- 
phant entry  into  Petersburgh. 

The  pacha  of  Bender  waited  in  his  tent  with  great  so- 
lemnity the  arrival  of  Charles,  attended  by  one  Marco,  an 
interpreter.  He  received  that  prince  with  the  most  pro- 
found respect,  and  entreated  him  to  repose  himself  on  a  sofa  : 
but  the  king,  not  regarding  the  Turk's  civilities,  continued 
standing. 

"  Blessed  be  the  Almighty,"  said  the  pacha,  "  that  your 
majesty  is  alive  ;  my  despair  is  bitter  at  having  been  obliged, 
by  your  majesty,  to  execute  the  orders  of  his  highness." 
The  king,  only  vexed  that  his  three  hundred  soldiers  suffered 
themselves  to  be  taken  in  their  intrenchments,  replied, 
u  Ah  !  had  my  soldiers  defended  themselves  as  they  ought, 
you  would  not  have  forced  our  camp  in  ten  days."  "  Alas," 
cried  the  Turk,  "  that  so  much  courage  should  be  so  ill  em- 
ployed !"  He  ordered  the  king  to  be  conducted  back  to 
Bender  on  a  horse  richly  caparisoned.  His  Swedes  were 
all  either  killed  or  taken  prisoners ;  Charles's  equipage,  fur- 
niture, papers,  and  most  necessary  utensils,  were  either 
plundered  or  burnt ;  and  Swedish  officers  were  to  be  seen 
on  the  public  roads,  almost  naked,  and  chained  two  and 
two,  following  on  foot  the  Tartars  or  janissaries.  The 
chancellor  and  the  general  officers  had  no  other  destiny ; 
they  were  made  the  slaves  of  the  soldiers  to  whose  share 
they  had  fallen. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN.  211 

Ismael  Pacha  having  conducted  Charles  to  his  seraglio  at 
Bender,  gave  up  to  him  his  own  apartment,  and  ordered  him 
to  be  served  like  a  king,  but  not  without  taking  the  precau- 
tion to  place  janissaries  as  sentinels  at  the  chamber-door. 
A.  bed  was  also  prepared  for  him ;  but  he  threw  himself 
down  upon  a  sofa,  booted  as  he  was,  and  fell  fast  asleep. 
An  officer  that  stood  near  him  in  waiting  covered  his  head 
with  his  cap;  but  the  king,  upon  awaking  from  his  first 
sleep,  threw  it  off ;  and  the  Turk  beheld  with  astonishment 
a  sovereign  sleeping  in  his  boots,  and  bareheaded.  The 
next  morning,  Ismael  introduced  Fabricius  into  the  king's 
chamber.  Fabricius  found  his  majesty  with  his  clothes 
torn,  his  boots,  his  hands,  and  his  whole  body  covered  with 
blood  and  powder,  and  his  eye-brows  burnt,  yet  maintaining 
a  serene  countenance  even  in  this  condition.  He  threw  him- 
self upon  his  knees  before  him,  without  being  able  to  utter 
a  word  ;  but  soon  recovering  from  his  surprise  by  the  free 
and  easy  manner  in  which  the  king  addressed  him,  he  re- 
sumed his  usual  familiarity,  and  they  began  to  talk  of  the 
battle  of  Bender  with  much  pleasantry.  "  They  say,"  said 
Fabricius,  u  that  your  majesty  killed  twenty  janissaries  with 
your  own  hand."  a  Well,  well,"  replied  the  king,  "  a  story 
always  gains  one  half  by  report."  In  the  midst  of  this  con- 
versation, the  pacha  presented  to  the  king  his.  favourite 
Grothusen,  and  Colonel  Ribbins,  whom  he  had  had  the 
generosity  to  redeem  at  his  own  expense.  Fabricius  un- 
dertook to  ransom  the  other  prisoners. 

Jeffreys,  the  envoy  of  England,  joined  with  him  to  pro- 
cure  the  money  to  defray  the  expense.  A  Frenchman,  whd$ 
had  come  to  Bender  out  of  curiosity,  and  who  had  wrote  a 
short  account  of  these  transactions,  gave  all  that  he  had. 
These  strangers,  assisted  by  the  interest,  and  even  by  the 
money  of  the  pacha,  redeemed  not  only  the  officers,  but  also 
their  clothes,  from  the  hands  of  the  Turks  and  Tartars. 

Next  day  the  king  was  conducted,  as  a  prisoner,  in  a  cha- 
riot covered  with  scarlet,  towards  Adrianople  :  his  treasurer, 
Grothusen,  was  with  him ;  Chancellor  Mullern  and  several 


212  HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


officers  followed  in  another  carriage ;  several  were  on  horse- 
back ;  and  when  they  cast  their  eyes  on  the  chariot  in 
which  the  king  was,  they  could  not  refrain  from  tears.  The 
pacha  was  at  the  head  of  the  escort.  Fabricius  represented 
to  him,  that  it  was  shameful  the  king  should  want  a  sword, 
and  begged  he  would  give  him  one.  "  God  forbid  !"  said 
the  pacha,  u  he  would  cut  our  beards  for  us  if  he  had  one." 
However,  in  a  few  hours  after  he  gave  him  one. 

As  they  were  thus  conducting  this  king,  disarmed  and  a 
prisoner,  who  but  a  few  years  before  had  given  law  to  so 
many  states,  and  had  seen  himself  the  arbiter  of  the  north 
and  the  terror  of  Europe,  there  appeared  in  the  same  place 
another  example  of  the  frailty  of  human  grandeur.  King 
Stanislaus  had  been  seized  in  the  Turkish  dominions,  and 
they  were  now  carrying  him  to  Bender,  at  the  very  time 
that  they  were  carrying  Charles  from  it. 

Stanislaus  being  no  longer  supported  by  the  hand  which 
had  made  him  king,  and  finding  himself  without  money, 
and  consequently  without  interest  in  Poland,  had  retired,  at 
first,  into  Pomerania;  and  not  being  able  to  preserve  his  own 
kingdom,  he  had  done  every  thing,  as  far  as  was  in  his  power, 
to  defend  the  dominions  of  his  benefactor.  He  had  even  gone 
to  Sweden,  in  order  to  hasten  the  reinforcements  that  were 
so  much  wanting  in  Livonia  and  Pomerania ;  in  short,  he 
had  done  every  thing  that  could  be  expected  from  the  friend 
of  Charles  XII.  At  this  time,  the  first  king  of  Prussia,  a 
very  prudent  prince,  being  justly  apprehensive  of  the  too 
near  neighbourhood  of  the  Muscovites,  thought  of  entering 
into  a  league  with  Augustus  and  the  republic  of  Poland,  in 
order  to  send  back  the  Russians  to  their  own  country,  and 
of  engaging  Charles  XII.  himself  in  this  project.  Three 
great  events  were  to  be  produced  by  this  plan ;  the  peace  of 
the  north,  the  return  of  Charles  to  his  own  dominions,  and 
the  establishment  of  a  strong  barrier  against  the  Russians/al- 
ready become  formidable  to  Europe.  The  preliminary  arti- 
cle of  this  treaty,  upon  which  the  public  tranquillity  de- 
pended, was  the  abdication  of  Stanislaus;  who  not  only  ac 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


213 


cepted  the  proposal,  but  even  charged  himself  with  being 
the  negotiator  of  a  peace  which  deprived  him  of  his  crown. 
Necessity,  the  public  welfare,  the  glory  of  the  sacrifice,  and 
the  interest  of  Charles,  to  whom  he  owed  every  thing,  and 
whom  he  loved,  decided  him.  He  wrote  to  Bender ;  ex- 
plained to  the  king  of  Sweden  the  situation  of  his  affairs, 
their  misfortunes,  and  their  remedy;  and  conjured  him  not 
to  oppose  an  abdication  become  necessary  from  the  course 
of  events,  and  honourable  from  its  motives ;  he  also  en- 
treated him  not  to  sacrifice  the  interests  of  Sweden  to  those 
of  an  unhappy  friend,  who  sacrificed  himself,  without  re- 
pining, to  the  public  good.  Charles  received  these  letters 
at  Varnitza,  and  said  to  the  courier  in  a  passion,  in  presence 
of  several  witnesses,  "  If  my  friend  will  not  be  a  king,  I 
shall  be  able  to  make  one  of  another  person." 

Stanislaus  was  obstinately  bent  on  the  sacrifice  which 
Charles  opposed.  The  times  seem  as  if  they  were  destined 
by  Providence  to  produce  stiange  sentiments,  and  still  more 
extraordinary  actions.  Stanislaus  resolved  to  go  himself 
and  prevail  on  Charles,  though  he  ran  a  greater  risk  in  ab- 
dicating the  throne  than  ever  he  had  done  in  obtaining  it. 
One  evening,  about  six  o'clock,  he  stole  from  the  Swedish 
army,  which  he  commanded  in  Pomerania,  and  set  out,  ac- 
companied by  Baron  Sparr,  who  hath  since  been  an  ambas- 
sador in  England  and  France,  and  another  colonel.  He  as- 
sumed the  name  of  a  Frenchman,  called  Haran,  then  a 
major  in  the  Swedish  army,  and  who  lately  died  commander 
of  Dantzic.  He  passed  close  by  the  whole  army  of  the 
enemy;  was  sometimes  stopped,  and  as  often  released  by 
virtue  of  a  passport  which  he  had  in  the  name  of  Haran ; 
and,  at  last,  after  many  perils  and  dangers,  arrived  on  the 
frontiers  of  Turkey. 

When  he  had  reached  Moldavia,  he  sent  back  Baron  Sparr 
to  his  army,  and  entered  Yassy,  the  capital  of  Moldavia, 
thinking  himself  safe  in  a  country  where  the  king  of  Sweden 
had  been  treated  so  respectfully ;  he  was  far  from  suspecting 
what  was  then  passing. 


£14 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


He  was  asked  who  he  was ;  to  which  he  answered,  that 
he  was  a  major  of  a  regiment  in  the  service  of  Charles  XII. 
At  the  very  mention  of  the  name,  he  was  seized,  and  car- 
ried before  the  hospodar  of  Moldavia,  who,  having  already 
learned  from  the  gazettes,  that  Stanislaus  had  privately  with- 
drawn from  his  army,  conceived  some  suspicions  of  the  truth. 

The  king's  countenance  had  been  described  to  him,  which 
was  very  easily  distinguished  by  its  fullness,  as  well  as  its 
agreeableness,  and  an  air  of  sweetness  which  he  possessed 
to  an  uncommon  degree. 

The  hospodar  interrupted  him,  put  to  him  a  great  many 
captious  questions,  and  at  last  asked  him  what  commission 
he  held  in  the  Swedish  army.  Stanislaus  .and  the  hospodar 
carried  on  their  conversation  in  Latin.  "Major  sw?«,"  said 
Stanislaus.  "  Imo  Maximus  es,"  replied  the  Moldavian  ; 
and  immediately  presented  him  with  a  chair  of  state.  He 
treated  him  as  a  king,  but  yet  like  a  king  who  was  a  pri- 
soner, and  he  placed  a  strict  guard  about  a  Greek  convent, 
in  which  he  was  obliged  to  remain  till  they  received  the  sul- 
tan's orders.  The  orders  were  to  conduct  him  to  Bender, 
from  which  place  Charles  XII.  had  been  just  removed. 

The  news  of  this  event  was  brought  to  the  pacha  at  the 
time  he  was  accompanying  the  king  of  Sweden's  carriage. 
The  pacha  immediately  acquainted  Fabricius  with  it,  who 
approaching  Charles's  chariot,  told  him  he  was  not  the  only 
king  that  was  a  prisoner  in  the  hands  of  the  Turks,  for  that 
Stanislaus  was  but  a  few  miles  off,  under  a  guard  of  soldiers. 
"  Run  to  him,  my  dear  Fabricius,"  said  Charles,  without 
being  disconcerted  at  the  accident ;  "  tell  him  never  to  make 
peace  with  Augustus,  and  assure  him  that  in  a  little  time  our 
affairs  will  change."  So  inflexible  was  Charles  in  his  own 
opinions,  that,  abandoned  as  he  was  in  Poland,  attacked  in  his 
own  dominions,  a  captive  in  a  Turkish  litter,  and  led  a  pri- 
soner without  knowing  whither  they  were  carrying  him,  he 
still  counted  on  fortune,  and  still  expected  to  have  a  hun- 
dred thousand  men  from  the  Ottoman  Porte.  Fabricius 
hastened  to  execute  his  commission,  attended  by  a  janissary, 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


215 


having  obtained  permission  from  the  pacha.  At  a  few  miles 
distance  he  met  the  body  of  soldiers  that  conducted  Stanis- 
laus ;  he  addressed  himself  to  a  cavalier  that  rode  in  the 
midst  of  them,  clad  in  a  French  dress,  and  but  indifferently 
mounted,  and  asked  him  in  the  German  tongue  where  the 
king  of  Poland  was.  The  person  to  whom  he  spoke  was 
Stanislaus  himself,  whom  he  did  not  recollect  under  this  dis- 
guise. "  What !"  said  the  king,  "  do  you  no  longer  remem- 
ber me?"  Fabricius  then  represented  to  him  the  wretched 
state  in  which  the  king  of  Sweden  was,  and  his  unalterable 
but  useless  obstinacy  in  his  designs. 

As  Stanislaus  approached  Bender,  the  pacha,  who  was 
upon  his  return,  after  having  accompanied  Charles  several 
miles,  sent  the  king  of  Poland  an  Arabian  horse,  with  a  mag- 
nificent harness. 

He  was  received  at  Bender  amidst  a  discharge  of  the  ar- 
tillery ;  and  excepting  his  liberty,  of  which  he  was  at  first 
deprived,  he  had  no  cause  to  complain  of  the  treatment  he 
met  with.*  In  the  mean  time,  Charles  was  conducted  to 
Adrianople.  That  town  was  already  filled  with  the  account 
of  his  late  battle.  The  Turks  condemned  and  admired  him  at 
the  same  time  ;  but  the  divan,  exasperated,  already  threat- 
ened to  confine  him  in  one  of  the  islands  of  the  Archipelago. 

Stanislaus,  king  of  Poland,  who  did  me  the  honour  to  in- 
form me  of  the  greatest  part  of  these  particulars,  assured  me 
also,  that  it  was  proposed  in  the  divan  to  confine  him  like- 
wise in  one  of  the  islands  of  Greece ;  but  a  few  months  af- 
ter, the  grand  seignor,  being  mollified,  permitted  him  to  de- 
part. 

M.  des  Alleurs,  who  could  have  taken  his  part,  and  could 
have  prevented  them  from  offering  such  an  affront  to  every 
christian  king,  was  at  Constantinople ;  as  was  also  M.  Po- 

*The  good  Chaplain  Norberg  alleges,  that  this  is  a  contradiction,  say- 
ing, that  King  Stanislaus  was  at  once  detained  a  prisoner,  and  treated  as 
a  king  at  Bender.  How  !  had  not  this  poor  man  discernment  enough  to 
perceive,  that  it  is  possible  for  a  man  to  be  a  prisoner,  and  yet  loaded 
with  honours  at  the  same  time  ? 


216 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


niatowsky,  whose  fertile  and  enterprising  genius  they  had 
ever  dreaded.  The  greatest  part  of  the  Swedes  at  Adriano- 
ple  were  in  prison ;  and  the  sultan's  throne  seemed  to  be 
inaccessible  on  all  sides  to  the  complaints  of  the  king  of 
Sweden. 

The  Marquis  de  Fierville,  who  had  resided  with  Charles 
at  Bender  as  a  private  agent  of  France,  was  at  that  time  at 
Adrianople.  He  dared  to  form  the  design  of  rendering  that 
prince  a  service,  at  a  time  when  he  was  abandoned  or  op- 
pressed by  every  one.  He  was  happily  seconded  in  his  de- 
sign by  a  French  gentleman,  of  an  ancient  house  in  Cham- 
pagne, called  Villelongue,  a  man  of  intrepidity,  who,  not 
having  at  that  time  a  fortune  equal  to  his  courage,  and  be- 
sides dazzled  with  the  reputation  of  the  king  of  Sweden,  had 
come  to  Turkey  with  a  view  of  entering  into  the  service  of 
that  prince. 

M.  de  Fierville,  with  the  assistance  of  this  young  man, 
wrote  a  memorial  in  the  name  of  the  king  of  Sweden,  in 
which  he  made  that  monarch  demand  satisfaction  of  the  sul- 
tan for  the  insult  offered  in  his  person  to  all  crowned  heads, 
and  for  the  treachery,  real  or  supposed,  of  the  kam  and  pacha 
of  Bender. 

In  this  memorial,  he  accused  the  vizier  and  other  ministers 
of  having  been  corrupted  by  the  Russians,  of  imposing  upon 
the  grand  seignor,  of  having  intercepted  the  king's  letters 
to  his  highness,  and  of  having  by  their  artifices  extorted 
from  the  sultan  an  order  so  contrary  to  the  hospitality  of 
Mussulmen,  by  which  the  law  of  nations  was  violated,  and 
in  a  manner  so  unworthy  of  a  great  emperor,  attacking  with 
twenty  thousand  men,  a  king  who  had  none  but  his  own  do- 
mestics to  defend  him,  and  who  relied  upon  the  sacred  word 
of  the  sultan. 

When  this  memorial  was  drawn  up,  it  was  necessary  to 
have  it  translated  into  the  Turkish  language,  and  written 
in  a  particular  hand,  upon  a  paper  made  on  purpose,  which 
it  is  necessary  to  make  use  of  for  every  thing  which  is  pre- 
sented to  the  sultan. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


217 


They  applied  to  several  French  interpreters  in  the  town; 
but  the  affairs  of  the  king  of  Sweden  were  so  desperate,  and 
the  vizier  declared  so  openly  against  him,  that  not  a  single 
interpreter  dared  even  to  translate  it.  At  last  they  found 
a  stranger,  whose  hand  was  not  known  at  the  Porte,  who, 
having  received  a  handsome  recompense,  and  the  assurance 
of  profound  secrecy,  translated  the  memorial  into  the  Turkish 
language,  and  wrote  it  upon  the  proper  sort  of  paper.  Ba- 
ron d'Advirson,  a  Swedish  officer,  counterfeited  the  king's 
signature.  Fierville,  who  had  the  royal  signet,  set  it  to  the 
writing  ;  and  they  sealed  the  whole  with  the  arms  of  Swe- 
den. Vilielongue  charged  himself  with  the  delivery  of  this 
packet  into  the  hands  of  the  grand  seignor  as  he  went  to  the 
mosque,  according  to  his  usual  custom.  The  like  methods 
had  been  frequently  employed  to  present  memorials  to  the 
sultan  against  his  ministers  ;  but  that  very  circumstance  ren- 
dered the  success  of  inis  enterprise  the  more  difficult,  and 
the  danger  still  greater. 

The  vizier,  who  foresaw  that  the  Swedes  would  demand 
justice  of  the  sultan,  and  being  instructed  by  the  unhappy 
fate  of  his  predecessors,  had  given  peremptory  orders  to  al- 
low no  one  to  approach  the  grand  seignor's  person,  but  to 
seize  every  one  who  should  be  about  the  mosque  with  peti- 
tions in  their  hands. 

Vilielongue  knew  of  this  order,  and  was  not  ignorant  that 
he  run  the  risk  of  losing  his  head.  He  laid  aside  his  Frank's 
dress,  and  put  on  a  Grecian  habit ;  and,  concealing  the  let- 
ter in  his  bosom,  repaired  betimes  to  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  mosque  to  which  the  grand  seignor  resorted.  He  coun- 
terfeited the  madman,  and  dancing  between  two  files  of 
janissaries,  through  which  the  sultan  was  to  pass,  he  pur- 
posely let  drop  some  pieces  of  money  from  his  pockets,  as 
if  by  chance,  in  order  to  amuse  the  guards. 

When  the  sultan  approached,  the  guards  endeavoured  to 
remove  Vilielongue;  but  he  fell  on  his  knees  and  struggled 
with  the  janissaries ;  at  last  his  cap  fell  off,  and  he  was  dis- 
covered by  his  long  hair  to  be  a  Frank  :  he  received  several 
K  '  19 


218 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


blows,  and  was  very  roughly  handled.  The  grand  seignor, 
who  was  near,  heard  the  scuffle,  and  demanded  the  cause  of 
it.  Villelongne  cried  out  with  all  his  force,  "Amman! 
Amman  !  Mercy  !"  pulling  the  letter  out  of  his  bosom.  The 
sultan  ordered  the  guards  to  let  him  approach.  Villelongue 
instantly  ran  to  him,  embraced  his  stirrup,  and  presented 
the  memorial,  saying,  "  Sued  crall  dan  ;  It  is  the  king  ol 
Sweden  who  gives  you  this."  The  sultan  put  the  letter  in 
his  bosom,  and  proceeded  to  the  mosque.  In  the  mean  while 
they  secured  Villelongue,  and  imprisoned  him  in  one  of  the 
exterior  apartments  of  the  seraglio. 

The  sultan  having  read  the  letter,  upon  his  leaving  the 
mosque,  resolved  to  interrogate  the  prisoner  himself.  What 
I  relate  here  will  perhaps  appear  somewhat  incredible ;  but 
yet  nothing  is  here  advanced  but  what  is  vouched  by  the 
letters  of  M.  de  Villelongue,  and  when  so  brave  an  officer 
asserts  any  thing  upon  his  honour,  he  merits  some  credit 
He  assured  me,  then,  that  the  sultan  laid  aside  his  imperial 
garb,  and  the  particular  turban  which  he  wears,  and  dis- 
guised himself  like  an  officer  of  the  janissaries,  a  thing 
which  he  frequently  does.  He  brought  along  with  him  an 
old  man  of  the  island  of  Malta,  who  served  as  an  interpreter. 
By  favour  of  this  disguise,  Villelongue  enjoyed  an  honour 
which  no  Christian  ambassador  had  ever  obtained  ;  he  had 
a  private  conference  with  the  Turkish  emperor  for  a  quar- 
ter of  an  hour.  He  did  not  fail  to  represent  the  wrongs 
which  the  king  of  Sweden  had  suffered,  to  accuse  the  mi- 
nisters, and  to  demand  satisfaction,  with  so  much  the  more 
freedom,  as  in  talking  to  the  sultan  he  was  only  supposed 
to  be  talking  to  his  equal.  He  could  easily  discover,  not- 
withstanding the  darkness  of  his  prison,  that  it  was  no  other 
than  the  grand  seignor  himself;  but  this  only  served  to  give 
him  the  more  spirit  in  the  conversation.  The  pretended  of- 
ficer of  the  janissaries  said  to  Villelongue,  "  Christian,  as- 
sure thyself  that  the  sultan,  my  master,  has  the  soul  of  an 
emperor;  and  that  if  your  king  of  Sweden  has  reason  on 
his  side,  he  will  do  him  justice."    Villelongue  was  soon 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


219 


after  set  at  liberty;  and  in  a  few  weeks  after  a  sudden 
change  was  seen  in  the  seraglio,  which  the  Swedes  attri- 
buted to  this  singular  conference.  The  mufti  was  deposed  ; 
the  kam  of  Tartary  was  banished  to  Rhodes ;  and  the  se- 
raskicr  pacha  of  Bender  confined  in  one  of  the  islands  of 
the  Archipelago. 

The  Ottoman  Porte  is  so  subject  to  the  like  revolutions, 
that  it  is  difficult  to  decide  whether  the  sultan  really  meant 
by  these  sacrifices  to  appease  the  king  of  Sweden  or  not. 
Indeed,  from  the  treatment  which  that  prince  received,  it 
does  not  appear  that  the  Porte  had  any  great  inclination  to 
oblige  him. 

The  favourite  Ali-Coumourgi  was  suspected  of  being  the 
sole  cause  of  all  these  changes,  in  order  to  serve  his  own 
particular  views.  It  was  said  that  he  caused  the  kam  of 
Tartary  and  the  seraskier  of  Bender  to  be  banished,  under 
the  pretence  that  they  had  given  the  king  the  twelve  hun- 
dred purses  in  contradiction  to  the  orders  of  the  grand 
seignor.  He  likewise  raised  to  the  throne  of  Tartary  the 
brother  of  the  deposed  kam,  a  young  man  of  his  own  age, 
who  had  little  regard  for  his  brother,  and  upon  whom  the 
favourite  depended  greatly  in  prosecuting  the  wars  he  had 
meditated.  With  regard  to  the  grand  vizier  Jussuf,  he  was 
not  deposed  till  some  weeks  after,  when  Soliman  Pacha  ob- 
tained the  title  of  first  vizier. 

It  is  incumbent  on  me  to  declare,  that  M.  de  Villelongue 
and  several  Swedes  assured  me,  that  the  letter  presented  to 
the  sultan  in  the  king's  name,  was  the  cause  of  all  these 
great  changes  at  the  Porte ;  but  M.  de  Fierville,  for  his 
part,  has  assured  me  of  the  contrary.  But,  indeed,  I  have 
found  the  like  contradictions  in  many  memorials  that  have 
been  submitted  to  my  perusal.  In  such  cases,  it  is  the  duty 
of  a  historian  to  give  matters  of  fact  ingenuously,  without 
endeavouring  to  dive  into  motives ;  and  to  confine  himself 
to  the  relation  of  what  he  does  know,  without  guessing  at 
things  which  he  is  not  acquainted  with. 

In  the  mean  time  they  had  conducted  Charles  XII.  to  the 


220  HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 

little  castle  of  Demirtash,  near  Adrianople.  An  innumera- 
ble number  of  Turks  were  assembled  in  this  place  to  see  the 
arrival  of  that  prince,  whom  they  carried  from  his  chariot  to 
the  castle  on  a  sofa;  but  Charles,  that  he  might  not  be  seen 
by  the  crowd,  put  a  cushion  upon  his  head. 

The  Porte  was  several  days  before  it  would  grant  him  his 
request  to  reside  at  Demotica,  a  little  town  six  leagues  from 
Adrianople,  and  near  the  famous  river  Hebrus,  now  called 
Marizza.  "  Go,"  said  Coumourgi  to  the  grand  vizier  Soli- 
man,  "and  tell  the  king  of  Sweden  that  he  may  stay  at 
Demotica  all  his  life ;  I  will  be  answerable,  that  before  the 
expiration  of  one  year,  he  will  demand  of  his  own  accord  to 
be  gone  ;  but  let  your  chief  care  be,  not  to  furnish  him  with 
money." 

Thus  was  the  king  conveyed  to  the  little  town  of  Demo- 
tica, where  the  Porte  allowed  him  a  "  thaim,"  consisting  of 
a  considerable  quantity  of  provisions  for  himself  and  his  re- 
tinue ;  but  they  would  only  grant  him  five-and-twenty  crowns 
a  day  in  money  to  buy  pork  and  wine,  two  kinds  of  provi- 
sions which  the  Turks  never  furnish  to  others.  The  purse 
of  five  hundred  crowns  a  day,  which  he  had  at  Bender,  was 
withdrawn. 

Scarcely  had  he  arrived  at  Demotica  with  his  little  court, 
when  the  grand  vizier  Soliman  was  deposed,  and  his  place 
filled  by  Ibrahim  Molla,  a  man  of  a  high  spirit,  of  great  cou- 
rage, but  the  coarsest  manners.  It  is  not  useless  to  make 
known  his  history,  that  the  reader  may  be  acquainted  with 
the  characters  of  all  those  viceroys  of  the  Ottoman  empire, 
upon  whom  the  fortune  of  Charles  so  long  depended. 

He  had  been  a  common  sailor  till  the  accession  of  the  sul- 
tan Achmet  III.  This  emperor  frequently  disguised  him- 
self, either  in  the  habit  of  a  private  man,  of  a  priest,  or  a 
dervise ;  and  used  to  slip  in  the  evening  into  the  coffee- 
houses of  Constantinople,  and  the  public  places,  to  hear 
what  was  said  of  him,  and  to  collect  the  sentiments  of  the 
people.  One  day  he  heard  this  Molla  complaining  that  the 
Turkish  ships  never  took  any  prizes,  and  swearing,  that  if 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


221 


he  were  a  captain  of  a  ship,  he  would  never  enter  the  port 
of  Constantinople  without  bringing  some  vessel  of  the  infi- 
dels along  with  him.  The  grand  seignor  the  next  day  or- 
dered the  command  of  a  ship  to  be  given  to  him,  and  that 
he  should  be  sent  upon  a  cruize.  The  new  captain  returned 
in  a  few  days  after  with  a  Maltese  bark,  and  a  galley  of  Ge- 
noa. In  about  two  years  time  he  was  appointed  captain 
general  of  the  navy,  and  at  last  grand  vizier.  As  soon  as  he 
arrived  at  this  post,  he  thought  he  could  dispense  with  the 
favourite;  and  to  render  himself  the  more  necessary,  he 
projected  a  scheme  for  commencing  a  war  against  the  Rus- 
sians :  with  this  view,  he  pitched  a  tent  not  far  from  the 
place  where  the  king  of  Sweden  resided. 

He  invited  that  prince  to  come  and  see  him,  with  the  new 
kam  of  Tartary,  and  the  French  ambassador.  The  king, 
who  became  more  proud  as  he  became  more  unfortunate, 
considered  it  a  most  daring  affront,  for  a  subject  to  send  him 
an  invitation ;  he  therefore  ordered  his  Chancellor  Mullern 
to  go  in  his  place;  and  he  himself,  who  was  always  in  the 
extremes,  lest  the  Turks  should  not  pay  him  that  respect 
which  was  due  to  his  royal  person,  or  oblige  him  to  com- 
promise his  dignity,  took  to  his  bed,  and  resolved  not  to  quit 
it  as  long  as  he  should  stay  at  Demotica.  He  remained  ten 
months  in  his  bed,  pretending  to  be  ill.  Chancellor  Mul- 
lern, Grothusen,  and  Colonel  Dubens,  were  the  only  persons 
who  were  admitted  to  his  table.  They  had  none  of  the 
conveniences  with  which  the  Franks  are  generally  provided ; 
all  these  they  had  lost  at  Bender  ;  consequently,  their  meals 
were  far  from  being  served  with  pomp  or  with  elegance. 
They  waited  on  themselves ;  and  during#he  whole  time 
Chancellor  Mullern  performed  the  office  of  cook. 

During  the  time  that  Charles  was  thus  passing  his  time  in 
bed,  he  was  apprized  of  the  desolation  of  all  his  provinces 
that  were  situated  within  the  limits  of  Sweden. 

General  Steinbock,  rendered  illustrious  by  his  driving  the 
Danes  out  of  Scania,  and  having  conquered  their  choicest 
troops  with  a  handful  of  peasants,  still  maintained  for  some 
19* 


222 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


time  the  reputation  of  the  Swedish  arms.  He  defended,  as 
far  as  he  was  able,  Pomerania,  Bremen,  and  what  the  king 
still  possessed  in  Germany;  but  could  not  hinder  the  com- 
bined armies  of  the  Danes  and  Saxons  from  besieging  Stade, 
a  town  of  great  strength  and  importance,  situated  on  the 
banks  of  the  Elbe,  in  the  duchy  of  Bremen.  The  town 
was  bombarded  and  reduced  to  ashes,  and  the  garrison 
obliged  to  surrender  at  discretion,  before  Steinbock  was  able 
to  advance  to  their  assistance. 

This  general,  who  had  about  twelve  thousand  men,  of 
which  one  half  were  cavalry,  pursued  the  enemy,  who  were 
twice  as  numerous,  and,  at  last,  overtook  them  in  the  duchy 
of  Mecklenburg,  at  a  place  called  Gadebush,  near  a  river 
which  bears  the  same  name.  He  arrived  opposite  to  the 
Saxons  and  the  Danes  on  the  20th  of  December,  1712.  He 
was  separated  from  them  by  a  morass.  The  enemy  had  this 
morass  in  front,  and  a  wood  in  their  rear ;  they  had  also  the 
advantage  of  number  and  situation  ;  and  their  camp  could 
not  be  gained  without  crossing  the  marsh  under  the  fire  of 
their  artillery. 

Steinbock  passed  at  the  head  of  his  troops,  arrived  in  or- 
der of  battle,  and  began  one  of  the  most  obstinate  and 
bloody  engagements  which  ever  happened  between  these 
rival  nations.  After  a  sharp  conflict  for  three  hours,  the 
Danes  and  Saxons  were  routed,  and  obliged  to  quit  the  field 
of  battle. 

It  was  in  this  battle  that  a  son  of  Augustus  by  the  coun- 
tess of  Konigsmark,  known  by  the  name  of  Count  Saxe, 
served  his  apprenticeship  in  the  art  of  war.  This  is  the 
same  Count  Sa4fc  who  had  the  honour  afterwards  to  be 
elected  duke  of  Courland,  and  who  wanted  nothing  but 
power  to  put  himself  in  possession  of  the  most  incontestible 
right  which  any  man  can  have  to  sovereignty,  I  mean  the 
unanimous  vote  of  the  people.  This  is  also  the  man  who 
has  since  acquired  a  more  solid  glory  by  saving  France  at 
the  battle  of  Fontenoy,  by  conquering  Flanders,  and  merit- 
ing the  reputation  of  the  greatest  general  of  our  age.  He 


■ 


KING  OF  SWEDEN.  223 

commanded  a  regiment  at  Gadebush,  and  had  a  horse  killed 
under  him ;  I  have  heard  him  say,  that  the  Swedes  always 
kept  their  ranks  ;  and  that,  even  after  the  victory  was  de- 
cided, and  the  first  lines  of  these  brave  troops  having  their 
enemies  lying  dead  at  their  feet,  there  was  not  a  single 
Swedish  soldier  who  dared  even  to  stop  to  strip  them,  before 
prayers  were  read  in  the  field  of  battle ;  so  steady  were 
they  in  the  strict  discipline  to  which  their  king  had  always 
accustomed  them. 

Steinbock,  after  this  victory,  remembering  that  the  Danes 
had  reduced  Stade  to  ashes,  went  to  retaliate  on  Altena, 
which  belongs  to  the  king  of  Denmark.  Altena  stands  be- 
low Hamburgh,  on  the  banks  of  the  Elbe,  which  can  con- 
vey ships  of  considerable  burthen  into  its  harbour.  The 
king  of  Denmark  had  favoured  this  town  with  many  pri- 
vileges, with  the  design  of  establishing  a  flourishing  com- 
merce ;  the  industry  of  its  inhabitants,  encouraged  by  the 
prudent  measures  of  the  king,  had  already  added  Altena  to 
the  number  of  rich  and  commercial  cities.  Hamburgh  had 
conceived  a  jealousy  at  this,  and  wished  for  nothing  so 
much  as  its  destruction.  As  soon  as  Steinbock  was  in  sight 
of  Altena,  he  sent  a  trumpet  to  acquaint  the  inhabitants, 
that  they  must  retire  with  as  many  of  their  effects  as  they 
could  carry  off,  and  that  he  was  going  to  raze  their  town 
to  its  foundation. 

The  magistrates  came  and  threw  themselves  at  his  feet, 
and  offered  him  a  hundred  thousand  crowns  for  ransom. 
Steinbock  demanded  two  hundred  thousand.  The  inhabi- 
tants begged  that  they  might,  at  least,  be  permitted  to  send 
to  Hamburgh,  where  their  correspondents  resided,  assuring 
him  that  next  day  they  would  send  him  that  sum  ;  but  the 
Swedish  general  replied,  that  they  must  give  it  instantly,  or 
he  would  immediately  set  Altena  in  flames. 

His  troops  were  already  in  the  suburbs  with  torches  in 
their  hands.  A  feeble  wooden  gate,  and  a  ditch,  already 
filled  up,  were  the  only  defence  of  the  inhabitants  of  Altena, 
These  unfortunate  people  were  obliged  to  quit  their  houses 


224 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  Xlf. 


with  precipitation  in  the  middle  of  the  night.  It  was  the 
ninth  of  January,  1713.  The  rigour  of  the  season,  then  ex- 
cessive, was  augmented  by  a  violent  north  wind,  which  ser- 
ved at  once  to  spread  the  flames  with  more  expedition  through 
the  town,  and  to  render  the  miseries  of  the  poor  people  who 
were  exposed  in  the  open  fields  the  more  intolerable.  Men 
and  women  weeping  and  wailing,  and  bending  under  the 
weight  of  their  furniture,  fled  to  the  neighbouring  hills, 
which  were  covered  with  snow.  Many  palsied  old  men 
were  carried  thither  on  the  shoulders  of  the  young.  Several 
of  the  women,  who  were  newly  delivered,  fled  with  their 
babes  in  their  arms,  and  perished  together  from  the  cold  on 
the  hills,  throwing  their  last  looks  towards  the  flames  which 
consumed  their  country.  All  the  inhabitants  had  not  time 
to  quit  the  town  before  the  Swedes  set  fire  to  it.  The  con- 
flagrations continued  from  midnight  till  ten  in  the  morning. 
Almost  all  the  houses  being  of  wood,  they  were  entirely  con- 
sumed ;  and  the  next  day  there  was  not  the  least  appearance 
that  there  had  been  a  town  on  that  spot. 

The  aged,  the  sick,  and  women  of  tender  constitutions, 
who  had  taken  refuge  in  the  snow,  while  their  houses  were 
in  flames,  at  last  crawled  to  the  gates  of  Hamburgh,  and  be- 
sought the  inhabitants  to  receive  them  within  the  walls,  and 
to  save  their  lives.  But  this  was  denied  them,  because  there 
had  been  some  contagious  distempers  in  Altena,  and  the 
Hamburghers  had  not  so  great  a  regard  for  its  inhabitants 
as  to  expose  themselves  to  the  danger  of  having  their  own 
town  infected  by  receiving  them.  Thus  did  the  greatest  part 
of  these  miserable  people  expire  under  the  walls  of  Hamburgh, 
calling  on  heaven  to  witness  the  barbarity  of  the  Swedes, 
and  the  treatment  of  the  Hamburghers,  which  was  not  less 
inhuman. 

All  Germany  cried  out  against  this  violence  ;  the  ministers 
and  generals  of  Poland  and  Denmark  wrote  to  Count  Stein- 
bock,  reproaching  him  with  a  cruelty  so  enormous,  as  perpe- 
trated without  necessity,  and  remaining  without  excuse,  pro- 
voked the  vengeance  of  heaven  and  earth. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


225 


Steinbock  replied,  "  that  he  should  not  have  carried  things 
to  such  extremities,  except  to  teach  the  enemies  of  the  king, 
his  master,  not  to  make  war  for  the  future  like  barbarians, 
but  to  pay  some  regard  to  the  laws  of  nations  ;  that  they  had 
filled  Pomerania  with  their  cruelties,  laid  waste  that  beauti- 
ful province,  and  sold  near  a  hundred  thousand  of  the  in- 
habitants to  the  Turks  ;  and  that  the  torches  which  had  laid 
Altena  in  ashes,  were  but  reprisals  for  the  red  hot  bullets  by 
which  Stade  had  been  consumed." 

Such  was  the  fury  with  which  the  Swedes  and  their  ene- 
mies carried  on  the  war.  If  Charles  had  appeared  in  Po- 
merania at  this  time,  it  is  reasonable  to  imagine  he  might 
have  recovered  his  former  good  fortune.  His  armies,  though 
removed  at  so  great  a  distance  from  his  person,  were  still 
animated  by  his  spirit ;  but  the  absence  of  a  chief  is  always 
prejudicial  to  his  affairs,  and  prevents  even  victories  from  be- 
ing turned  to  account.  Steinbock  lost  by  piecemeal  the 
great  advantage  he  had  gained  by  such  signal  actions,  as  at 
another  time  would  have  proved  decisive. 

Victorious  as  he  was,  he  could  not  prevent  the  Russians, 
Danes,  and  Saxons,  from  joining.  His  quarters  were  beat 
up ;  he  lost  some  troops  in  several  little  skirmishes ;  and 
two  thousand  of  his  men  were  drowned  in  passing  the  Ei- 
der, as  they  were  going  to  their  winter  quarters  in  Hplstein. 
All  these  losses,  in  a  country  surrounded  on  every  side  by 
powerful  enemies,  were  utterly  irreparable. 

Holstein  was,  at  this  time*,  governed  by  its  young  duke, 
Frederic,  aged  twelve  years,  nephew  of  the  king  of  Sweden, 
and  son  of  that  duke  who.  had  been  killed  at  the  battle  of 
Clissau.  The  bishop  of  Lubeck,  his  uncle,  governed  this 
unhappy  country  with  the  title  of  administrator,  which  its 
sovereigns  had  never  possessed  in  tranquillity. 

The  bishop,  who  feared  for  the  states  of  his  ward,  was 
desirous  to  preserve  an  apparent  neutrality ;  but  it  was  im- 
possible to  remain  neuter  between  the  army  of  the  king  of 
Sweden,  whose  heir  the  duke  of  Holstein  might  become, 
and  the  armies  of  the  allies  ready  to  invade  that  state. 


226 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


Count  Steinbock,  pressed  by  the  enemy,  and  no  longer 
able  to  preserve  his  small  army,  summoned  the  bishop-ad- 
ministrator to  consent  to  its  being  received  within  the  fort- 
ress of  Tonningen.  The  bishop  found  himself  reduced 
either  entirely  to  sacrifice  the  king's  army,  or  to  draw  upon 
Holstein  the  vengeance  of  Denmark. 

He  had  recourse  to  artifice,  that  dangerous  resource  of 
the  weak.  He  ordered  Colonel  Wolf,  who  commanded  in 
Tonningen,  to  receive  the  Swedish  troops  in  his  fortresses, 
but  at  the  same  time  exacted  of  that  officer  that  he  should 
never  mention  that  order,  and  Steinbock,  on  his  side,  took 
an  oath  to  keep  the  negotiation  secret. 

It  was  necessary  that  Wolf  should  take  upon  himself  to 
receive  the  army  in  his  garrison  as  of  his  own  authority,  and 
that  he  should  appear  to  disobey  the  orders  of  his  sovereign. 
All  this  finesse  turned  out  unfortunately  for  the  duke,  the 
country,  and  for  Steinbock.  The  czar,  the  king  of  Den- 
mark, and  the  king  of  Prussia,  blockaded  Tonningen.  The 
provisions  which  were  to  have  come  to  this  small  army, 
failed  by  a  fatality,  which  through  this  whole  war  ruined 
the  affairs  of  Sweden. 

At  last,  Steinbock  was  forced  to  surrender  himself  prisoner 
to  the  king  of  Denmark,  with  his  troops,  on  the  13th  of 
March,  1713.  Thus  was  this  army  irretrievably  dissipated, 
which  had  gained  the  two  celebrated  victories  of  Helsim- 
burg  and  Gadebush,  under  a  general  of  whom  was  enter- 
tained the  highest  expectations ;  and  the  king  of  Denmark 
had  the  satisfaction  to  hold  as  his  prisoner,  the  person  who 
had  thwarted  all  his  designs,  and  reduced  his  town  of  Al- 
tena  to  ashes.  Steinbock,  when  he  quitted  Tonningen,  as- 
sured the  king  of  Denmark  that  he  had  never  entered  that 
town  but  by  stratagem,  and  that  he  had  deceived  the  gover- 
nor. This  officer  swore  to  the  same  thing,  and  preferred 
the  dishonour  of  having  been  surprised  to  the  divulging  the 
secret  of  his  master. 

The  duke  of  Holstein  and  the  bishop-administrator  pro- 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


227 


tested  that  they  had  observed  the  neutrality ;  they  implored 
the  mediation  of  the  king  of  Prussia  and  the  elector  of 
Hanover.  But  all  this  finesse  not  being  supported  by  force, 
did  not  prevent  the  king  of  Denmark  from  besieging  Wolf 
in  Tonningen,  a  short  time  afterward,  with  his  own  troops 
and  those  of  the  czar.  This  commander  surrendered  as 
Steinbock  had  done,  and  at  last  confessed  the  secret,  of  which 
the  Danes  had  but  too  many  suspicions. 

This  furnished  the  king  of  Denmark  with  a  pretext  for 
taking  possession  of  the  states  of  the  duke  of  Holstein, 
which  have  never  yet  been  entirely  restored  to  him.  This 
same  king  of  Denmark,  who  ravaged,  without  scruple,  the 
duchy  of  Holstein,  had  yet  the  generosity  to  treat  Steinbock 
with  consideration,  and  gave  an  example  that  kings  are 
often  more  guided  by  their  interests  than  their  revenge. 
He  left  the  incendiary  of  Altena  free  upon  his  parole  at 
Copenhagen,  and  affected  to  heap  favours  upon  him  ;  till 
Steinbock  having  attempted  to  escape,  had  the  misfortune 
to  be  -stopped,  and  to  be  convicted  of  having  broke  his  pa- 
role. Then  he  was  strictly  guarded,  and  reduced  to  ask 
pardon  of  the  king  of  Denmark,  who  granted  it  to  him. 

Pomerania  being  without  defence,  became  a  prey  to  the 
allies,  excepting  Stralsund,  the  Isle  of  Rugen,  and  some 
neighbouring  places,  and  was  sequestered  in  the  hands  of 
the  king  of  Prussia.  The  states  of  Bremen  were  filled  with 
Danish  garrisons.  At  the  same  time  the  Russians  overran 
Finland,  and  beat  the  Swedes,  who,  being  inferior  in  point 
of  numbers,  and  their  resolution  forsaking  them,  they  be- 
gan to  lose  their  superiority  of  valour  over  enemies  who 
were  now  inured  to  war. 

To  complete  the  misfortunes  of  Sweden,  the  king  was  obsti- 
nately determined  to  remain  at  Demotica,  and  still  flattered 
himself  with  the  hope  of  having  assistance  from  the  Turks, 
in  whom  he  ought  no  longer  to  have  reposed  any  confidence. 

Ibrahim  Molia,  that  bold  vizier,  who  had  been  so  obsti- 
nately bent  on  a  war  with  the  Russians,  in  opposition  to  the 
favourite,  was  strangled  between  two  doors. 


228 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


The  place  of  vizier  was  become  so  dangerous,  that  no 
one  dared  to  accept  of  it ;  it  continued  vacant  six  months. 
At  last  the  favourite,  Ali-Coumourgi,  assumed  the  title  ol 
grand  vizier.  Then  were  all  the  hopes  of  the  king  of  Swe- 
den crushed  at  once.  He  knew  Coumourgi  so  much  the 
better,  as  he  had  been  served  by  him  when  the  interest  of 
that  favourite  and  his  own  happened  to  coincide. 

Charles  had  now  been  eleven  months  at  Demotica,  buried 
in  sloth  and  oblivion  :  this  extreme  indolence  succeeding  so 
suddenly  the  most  violent  exercises,  had  at  last  actually 
given  him  the  disease  which  he  had  before  feigned.  His 
death  was  believed  throughout  Europe.  The  council  of  re- 
gency which  he  had  established  at  Stockholm  when  he  left 
his  capital,  no  longer  received  any  despatches  from  him. 
The  senate  came  in  a  body  to  Princess  Ulrica  Eleonora,  the 
king's  sister,  and  intreated  her  to  take  the  regency  into  her 
own  hands,  during  the  long  absence  of  her  brother.  She 
accepted  the  proposal ;  but  when  she  perceived  that  the 
senate  wanted  to  oblige  her  to  make  a  peace  with  the  czar 
and  the  king  of  Denmark,  who  attacked  Sweden  on  every 
side,  and  well  knowing  that  her  brother  would  never  ratify 
such  a  peace,  she  resigned  the  regency,  and  sent  into  Tur- 
key a  long  detail  of  the  transaction. 

Charles  received  his  sister's  packet  at  Demotica.  The 
arbitrary  principles  which  he  had  imbibed  at  his  birth,  made 
him  forget  that  Sweden  had  formerly  been  free,  and  that  in 
ancient  times  the  senate  governed  the  kingdom  conjointly 
with  the  king.  He  regarded  this  body  as  a  parcel  of  do- 
mestics, who  wanted  to  usurp  tjhe  command  of  the  house  in 
their  master's  absence ;  he  wrote  to  them,  that  if  they  pre- 
tended to  assume  the  reins  of  government,  he  would  send 
them  one  of  his  boots,  from  which  he  would  oblige  them 
to  receive  their  orders. 

To  prevent,  therefore,  these  pretended  attempts  upon  his 
authority  in  Sweden,  and  to  defend  his  kingdom,  now  in 
the  last  extremity,  deprived  of  all  hopes  of  assistance  from 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


229 


the  Ottoman  Porte,  and  relying  on  himself  alone,  he  signi- 
fied to  the  grand  vizier  his  desire  of  departing,  and  returning 
by  the  way  of  Germany. 

M.  des  Alleurs,  the  French  ambassador,  who  was  charged 
with  the  affairs  of  Sweden,  made  the  proposal  in  his  name. 
u  Well,"  said  the  vizier  to  him,  u  did  not  I  tell  you,  that  a 
year  would  not  pass  before  the  king  of  Sweden  would  desire 
to  depart  ?  Tell  him  it  is  at  his  choice  to  go  or  stay  ;  but 
let  him  come  to  a  fixed  determination,  and  appoint  the  day 
of  his  departure,  that  he  may  not  a  second  time  embarrass 
us  as  he  did  at  Bender." 

Count  des  Alleurs  softened  the  harshness  of  this  answer 
to  the  king.  The  day  was  accordingly  fixed ;  but  before 
Charles  would  leave  Turkey,  he  resolved  to  display  the 
pomp  of  a  great  king,  though  involved  in  all  the  difficulties 
of  a  fugitive.  He  gave  Grothusen  the  title  of  his  ambassa- 
dor-extraordinary, and  sent  him  to  take  leave  in  form  at  Con- 
stantinople, followed  by  a  retinue  of  eighty  persons,  all  su- 
perbly dressed. 

The  divers  stratagems  to  which  he  was  reduced  in  order 
to  raise  a  sufficiency  to  defray  this  expense,  were  as  humili- 
ating as  the  embassy  was  pompous. 

M.  des  Alleurs  lent  the  king  forty  thousand  crowns.  Gro- 
thusen had  agents  at  Constantinople,  who  borrowed  in  his 
name,  at  the  rate  of  fifty  per  cent,  interest,  a  thousand 
crowns  of  a  Jew,  two  hundred  pistoles  of  an  English  mer- 
chant, and  a  thousand  livres  of  a  Turk. 

In  this  manner  did  they  amass  a  sum  sufficient  fb  enable 
them  to  act,  in  the  presence  of  the  divan,  the  brilliant  come- 
dy of  the  Swedish  embassy.  Grothusen  received  at  Con- 
stantinople all  the  honours  that  the  Porte  usually  pay  to 
kings'  ambassadors-extraordinary  on  the  day  of  their  audience. 
The  design  of  all  this  parade  was  only  to  obtain  money  from 
the  grand  vizier ;  but  that  minister  was  inexorable. 

Grothusen  proposed  the  borrowing  a  million  from  the 
Porte.    The  vizier  replied  coldly,  that  his  master  knew  hour 

20 


230 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


to  give  when  he  thought  proper,  but  that  it  was  beneath  his 
dignity  to  lend ;  that  the  king  should  be  furnished  with 
abundance  of  every  thing  necessary  for  his  journey,  in  a 
manner  worthy  of  the  person  that  sent  him  back ;  and  that 
the  Porte,  perhaps,  might  even  make  him  a  present  in  gold 
bullion,  but  that  was  not  to  be  looked  upon  as  certain. 

At  last,  on  the  1st  of  October,  1714,  the  king  of  Sweden 
set  out  on  his  journey  from  Turkey.  A  capigi  pacha,  with 
six  chiaoux,  came  to  attend  him  from  the  castle  of  £)emir- 
'tasli,  where  that  prince  had  resided  for  some  days  past ;  he 
presented  him,  in  the  name  of  the  grand  seignor,  with  a  large 
tent  of  scarlet,  embroidered  with  gold,  a  sabre  with  the  guard 
mounted  with  jewels,  and  eight  beautiful  Arabian  horses, 
with  fine  saddles,  and  stirrups  of  massy  silver.  It  is  not  be- 
neath the  dignity  of  history  to  observe,  that  the  Arabian 
equerry  who  had  had  the  care  of  the  horses,  gave  the  king 
an  account  of  their  genealogy;  a  custom  which  hath  been 
long  established  among  these  people,  who  seem  to  pay  more 
attention  to  the  nobility  of  their  horses,  than  to  that  of  their 
men;  which  is  not  perhaps  so  unreasonable,  as  among  ani- 
mals, those  breeds  of  which  care  is  taken,  and  which  are  not 
crossed,  are  never  found  to  degenerate. 

Sixty  wagons  loaded  with  all  sorts  of  provisions,  and  three 
hundred  horses,  comprised  the  convoy.  The  capigi  pacha  un- 
derstanding that  several  Turks  had  lent  money  to  the  king 
of  Sweden's  attendants  at  an  immoderate  interest,  told  his 
majesty,  that  usury  being  contrary  to  the  Mahometan  law, 
he  intreated  him  to  liquidate  all  these  debts,  and  to  order  his 
resident,  whom  he  should  leave  at  Constantinople,  to  pay 
no  more  than  the  capital.  "  No,"  said  the  king,  "  if  any  of 
my  domestics  have  given  bills  for  an  hundred  crowns,  I  will 
pay  them,  though  they  should  not  even  have  received  ten." 

He  made  a  proposal  to  his  creditors  to  follow  him,  with 
an  assurance  that  he  would  not  only  pay  them  what  he  owed, 
but  all  their  expenses.  Several  of  them  went  to  Sweden ; 
and  Grothusen  took  care  to  see  them  paid. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


231 


The  Turks,  in  order  to  show  the  greater  deference  to 
their  royal  guest,  made  him  travel  by  very  short  stages ;  but 
this  respectful  motion  was  ill  suited  to  the  impatient  spirit 
of  the  king.  During  the  journey,  he  got  up  at  three  in  the 
morning,  according  to  his  usual  custom.  As  soon  as  he  was 
dressed,  he  went  himself  and  awakened  the  capigi  and 
chfaoux,  and  ordered  the  march  during  the  darkness  of  the 
night.  The  Turkish  gravity  was  deranged  by  this  new  me- 
thod of  travelling  ;  but  Charles  took  pleasure  in  seeing  them 
embarrassed,  and  said,  it  was  some  little  revenge  for  the  af- 
fair of  Bender. 

About  the  time  that  Charles  reached  the  frontiers  of  Tur- 
key, Stanislaus  was  leaving  them  by  a  different  road,  and 
going  into  Germany,  with  a  view  of  retiring  into  the  dutchy 
of  Deux-Points,  a  province  bordering  on  the  palatinate  of 
Alsace  and  the  Rhine,  and  which  has  belonged  to  the  kings 
of  Sweden  ever  since  Charles  X.,  the  successor  of  Christina, 
had  united  it  to  the  crown.  Charles  assigned  to  Stanislaus 
the  revenue  of  this  dutchy,  estimated  at  that  time  at  about 
seventy  thousand  crowns.  Such  was  the  issue  of  so  many 
projects,  wars,  and  expectations  !  Stanislaus  could  and  would 
have  made  an  advantageous  treaty  with  Augustus ;  but  the 
inflexible  obstinacy  of  Charles  made  him  lose  his  lands  and 
real  possessions  in  Poland,  to  preserve  the  title  of  king. 

This  prince  remained  in  the  dutchy  of  Deux-Points  till 
the  death  of  Charles  XII.,  when  that  province  reverting  to 
a  prince  of  the  palatine  family,  he  chose  his  retreat  in  Wis- 
semburgh,  in  French  Alsace.  Mr.  Sum,  envoy  from  King 
Augustus,  making  a  complaint  of  this  to  the  duke  of  Orleans, 
regent  of  France,  the  duke  returned  him  an  answer  in  these 
remarkable  words ;  "  Sir,  tell  the  king,  your  master,  that 
France  has  ever  been  the  asylum  of  kings  in  distress." 

The  king  of  Sweden  being  arrived  on  the  confines  of  Ger- 
many, was  given  to  understand,  that  the  emperor  had  given 
orders  to  receive  him  in  every  part  of  his  dominioimwith  a 
becoming  magnificence.    The  towns  and  villages  tnrough 


✓ 


232 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


which  the  quarter  masters  had  previously  fixed  his  route,  had 
made  great  preparations  for  receiving  him  ;  all  the  people 
waited  with  impatience  to  see  this  extraordinary  man  pass 
by,  whose  victories  and  misfortunes,  whose  most  trifling  ac- 
tions, and  even  his  keeping  his  bed,  had  made  so  great  a 
noise  in  Europe  and  Asia.  But  Charles  had  no  desire  to 
bear  the  fatigue  of  so  much  pomp,  or  to  exhibit  as  a  specta- 
cle, the  prisoner  of  Bender;  he  had  even  resolved  never  to 
re-enter  Stockholm  until  he  should  have  repaired  his  losses 
by  a  change  of  fortune. 

When  he  arrived  at  Targowitz,  on  the  frontiers  of  Tran- 
sylvania, after  he  had  taken  leave  of  his  Turkish  convoy,  he 
assembled  his  attendants  in  a  barn,  and  told  them  all  not  to 
give  themselves  any  uneasiness  about  his  person,  but  to  pro- 
ceed with  ail  possible  expedition  to  Stralsund  in  Pomerania, 
on  the  coast  of  the  Baltic  sea,  about  three  hundred  leagues 
from  the  place  where  they  then  were. 

He  took  nobody  with  him  except  two  officers,  Rosen  and 
During,  and  taking  a  cheerful  leave  of  the  rest  of  his  attend- 
ants, left  them  filled  with  fear,  sorrow,  and  astonishment. 
To  disguise  himseJf,  he  put  on  a  black  wig,  as  he  always 
wore  his  own  hair,  a  gold  laced  hat,  a  gray  coat,  and  blue 
cloak ;  and,  taking  the  name  of  a  German  officer,  rode  post 
with  his  two  fellow  travellers. 

He  avoided  in  his  wray  as  much  as  possible,  the  territories 
of  either  his  declared  or  secret  enemies,  taking  the  road 
through  Hungary,  Moravia,  Bavaria,  Austria,  Wirtemberg, 
the  Palatinate,  Westphalia,  and  Mecklenburg ;  by  which 
means  he  almost  made  the  tour  of  Germany,  and  lengthened 
bis  journey  by  one  half.  Having  rode  the  whole  first  day 
without  intermission,  young  During,  who  was  not  so  much 
inured  to  these  excessive  fatigues,  fainted  as  he  was  dismount- 
ing. The  king,  who  was  determined  not  to  stop  a  moment 
on  the  road,  asked  During,  as  soon  as  he  came  to  himself, 
how  much  money  he  had.  Upon  During's  replying  that  he 
had  about  a  thousand  crowns  in  gold.    "  Give  me  half  of 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


233 


them,"  said  the  king,  "  I  see  you  are  not  in  a  condition  to 
follow  me ;  I  will  therefore  finish  the  journey  by  myself." 
During  begged  he  would  permit  him  to  repose  himself  but 
for  three  hours,  assuring  him  that  by  that  time  he  should  be 
able  to  remount  his  horse  and  attend  his  majesty,  and  con- 
jured him  to  think  of  the  dangers  to  which  he  was  going  to 
expose  himself.  The  king,  inexorable,  made  him  give  him 
five  hundred  crowns,  and  called  for  horses.  During,  alarm- 
ed at  this  resolution,  bethought  himself  of  an  innocent  stra- 
tagem ;  he  took  the  post-master  aside,  and  pointing  to  the 
king  of  Sweden,  "  that  gentleman,"  said  he)  "is  my  cousin; 
we  are  travelling  together  upon  the  same  business  ;  he  sees 
that  I  am  ill,  and  yet  he  will  not  wait  for  me,  even  for  three 
hours ;  give  him,  I  beseech  you,  the  worst  horse  in  your 
stable ;  and  let  me  have  a  cart  or  any  post  carriage." 

He  slipt  two  ducats  into  the  post-master's  hand,  who  ex- 
actly performed  his  orders ;  the  king  had  a  horse  given  him 
that  was  both  lame  and  restive ;  such  was  the  equipage  with 
which  this  monarch  set  out  at  ten  o'clock  at  night,  amidst 
darkness,  rain,  wind,  and  snow.  His  fellow  traveller,  after 
having  slept  a  few  hours,  followed  him  in  a.  cart  drawn  by 
strong  horses. 

About  day-break,  at  the  distance  of  a  few  miles,  he  over- 
took the  king,  who  not  being  able  to  make  his  horse  move 
on,  was  travelling  on  foot  to  the  next  stage. 

Charles  was  obliged  to  get  into  During's  cart,  where  he 
slept  upon  the  straw.  Thus  they  continued  their  journey, 
by  day  on  horseback,  and  sleeping  by  night  in  a  cart,  with- 
out stopping  in  any  place. 

After  sixteen  days  travelling,  not  without  danger  of  being 
taken  more  than  once,  they  arrived  at  last,  on  the  twenty- 
first  of  November,  in  the  year  1714,  at  the  gates  of  the  town 
of  Stralsund,  about  one  in  the  morning. 

The  king  called  to  the  sentinel,  and  told  him  that  he  was 
a  courier  despatched  from  Turkey  by  the  king  of  Sweden, 
and  that  he  must  speak  that  moment  with  General  Ducker, 

20* 


234 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


the  governor  of  the  place.  The  sentinel  answered,  that  it 
was  too  late  ;  that  the  governor  was  gone  to  bed  ;  and  that 
he  must  wait  till  break  of  day. 

The  king  replied,  that  he  came  upon  business  of  impor- 
tance, and  told  them  that  if  they  did  not  instantly  go  and 
awaken  the  governor,  they  should  be  punished  the  next 
morning.  A  serjeant,  at  last,  went  and  called  up  the  gover- 
nor. Ducker  imagined  that  it  might  perhaps  be  one  of  the 
king's  generals ;  he  therefore  caused  the  gates  to  be  opened, 
and  the  courier  was  introduced  into  his  chamber. 

Ducker,  half  asleep,  asked  him,  "  what  news  of  the  king 
of  Sweden  ?"  The  king  taking  him  by  the  arm,  "  What," 
said  lie,  "  Ducker,  have  my  most  faithful  subjects  forgot 
me  ?"  The  general  immediately  recollected  the  king,  though 
he  could  scarce  believe  his  eyes  ;  and  throwing  himself  from 
the  bed,  embraced  his  master's  knees  with  tears  of  joy.  The 
news  was  in  an  instant  spread  through  the  town.  Every 
one  got  up ;  the  soldiers  surrounded  the  governor's  house. 
The  streets  were  crowded  with  the  inhabitants,  asking  each 
other  whether  it  was  true  that  the  king  was  come.  Every 
window  was  illuminated,  wine  ran  through  the  streets, 
amidst  the  blaze  of  a  thousand  flambeaux,  and  the  discharges 
of  the  artillery. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  king  was  put  into  a  bed,  in  which 
he  had  not  been  for  above  sixteen  days  ;  his  boots  were 
obliged  to  be  cut  from  his  legs,  they  being  so  much  swollen 
by  his  extreme  fatigue.  As  he  had  neither  linen  nor  clothes, 
they  furnished  him  with  a  wardrobe-  as  well  as  the  town 
could  afford,  with  all  expedition.  When  he  had  slept  a  few 
hours,  he  arose,  and  went  directly  to  review  his  troops  and 
visit  his  fortifications.  The  same  day,  he  despatched  orders 
into  all  parts  for  renewing  the  war  against  his  enemies  with 
greater  vigour  than  ever.  These  particulars,  so  conforma- 
ble to  the  extraordinary  character  of  Charles  XII.,  were  com- 
municated to  me  by  M.  Fabricius,  and  afterwards  confirmed 
by  Count  Croissy,  ambassador  to  the  king  of  Sweden. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


235 


The  christian  part  of  Europe  was  now  in  a  situation  far 
different  from  that  in  which  it  was  when  C harks  quitted  it 
in  1709. 

The  war  which  had  so  long  raged  throughout  the  south, 
that  is  to  say,  in  Germany,  England,  Holland,  France,  Spain, 
Portugal,  and  Italy,  was  now  terminated.  This  general 
peace  had  been  brought  about  by  some  private  intrigues  in 
the  English  court.  ~  The  earl  of  Oxford,  an  able  minister, 
and  Lord  Bolingbroke,  one  of  the  greatest  geniuses  and  the 
most  eloquent  orator  of  the  age,  had  prevailed  over  the  fa- 
mous duke  of  Marlborough,  and  persuaded  the  queen  to 
make  a  peace  with  Louis  XIV.  France  having  no  longer 
England  for  her  enemy  j  soon  obliged  the  powers  to  come"  to 
an  accommodation. 

Philip  V.,  the  grandson  of  Louis  XIV.,  began  to  reign 
peaceably  over  the  ruins  of  the  Spanish  monarchy.  The 
emperor  of  Germany  became  master  of  Naples  and  Flanders, 
established  himself  in  his  vast  dominions  ;  and  Louis  him- 
self aspired  no  higher  than  to  finish  in  peace  his  long  ca- 
reer. 

Anne,  queen  of  England,  died  on  the  10th  of  August, 
1714,  hated  by  half  the  nation  for  having  given  peace  to  so 
many  kingdoms.  Her  brother,  James  Stuart,  an  unhappy 
prince,  excluded  from  the  throne  almost  at*his  birth,  not  be- 
ing at  that  time  in  England  to  claim  the  succession,  which 
new  laws  would  have  given  him  if  his  party  could  have  pre- 
vailed, George  I.  elector  of  Hanover,  was  unanimously  ac- 
knowledged king  of  Great  Britain.  The  throne  devolved  to 
that  elector,  not  by  right  of  blood,  though  descended  from  a 
daughter  of  James,  but  by  virtue  of  an  act  of  parliament  of 
that  nation. 

George,  called  in  an  advanced  age  to  the  government  of  a 
people  whose  language  he  did  not  understand,  and  to  whom 
he  was  an  entire  stranger,  regarded  himself  rather  as  elector 
of  Hanover  than  king  of  England.  His  whole  ambition  was 
to  aggrandize  his  German  dominions.    He  almost  always 


236 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII 


went  once  a  year  to  visit  his  hereditary  subjects,  by  whom 
he  was  adored.  In  other  respects,  he  took  more  pleasure  in 
living  like  a  private  man  than  a  sovereign.  The  pomp  of 
royalty  was  to  him  an  insupportable  burden.  He  passed  his 
time  with  a  few  old  courtiers,  with  whom  he  lived  in  great 
familiarity.  He  was  not  the  king  that  made  the  greatest 
figure  in  Europe ;  but  he  was  one  of  the  wisest  princes  of 
the  age,  and  perhaps  the  only  one  that  experienced,  on  a 
throne,  the  pleasures  of  friendship  and  a  private  life.  Such 
were  the  principal  monarchs,  and  such  the  situation  of  the 
8outh  of  Europe. 

The  changes  that  happened  in  the  north  were  of  another 
nature.  Its  kings  were  engaged  in  war,  and  uuited  them- 
selves against  the  king  of  Sweden. 

Augustus  had  been  long  restored  to  the  throne  of  Poland 
by  the  assistance  of  the  czar,  and  with  the  consent  of  the 
emperor  of  Germany,  of  Anne  of  England,  and  of  the  States 
General,  who,  though  all  guarantees  of  the  treaty  of  Altran- 
stad  when  Charles  XII.  could  have  imposed  laws,  abandon- 
ed their  engagement  when  they  had  nothing  more  to  fear 
from  him. 

But  Augustus  did  not  enjoy  a  tranquil  authority.  The 
republic  of  Poland  no  sooner  recalled  their  king,  than  their 
apprehensions  of  arbitrary  power  began  to  revive  ;  the  nation 
was  in  arms  to  oblige  him  to  conform  to  the  pacta  conventa, 
a  sacred  contract  between  the  king  and  the  people,  and 
seemed  to  have  recalled  its  sovereign  for  no  other  purpose 
than  to  declare  wrar  against  him.  At  the  commencement  of 
these  troubles,  the  name  of  Stanislaus  was  not  once  mention- 
ed; his  party  seemed  to  be  annihilated;  no  other  remem- 
brance of  the  king  of  Sweden  remained  in  Poland,  than  as  of 
a  torrent,  which,  in  the  violence  of  its  course,  had  for  a  time 
occasioned  a  change  in  the  face  of  nature. 

Pultowa,  and  the  absence  of  Charles  XII.,  by  causing  the 
fall  of  Stanislaus,  had  drawn  on  the  ruin  also  of  the  duke  of 
Holstein,  Charles's  nephew,  who  had  not  long  before  been 


KING  OF  SWEDEN 


2ST 


despoiled  of  his  dominions  by  the  kingof  Denmark.  The 
king  of  Sweden  had  had  a  sincere  regard  for  the  father,  and 
was  therefore  deeply  affected  and  mortified  with  the  misfor- 
tunes of  the  son ;  the  rather,  as  having  no  other  object  than 
glory,  the  fall  of  those  princes  whom  he  had  either  made  or 
restored  was,  by  him,  felt  as  sensibly  as  the  loss  of  so  many 
provinces. 

Every  one  was  at  liberty  to  enrich  himself  with  the  ruin 
of  Charles's  fortune.  Frederic  William,  the  new  king  of 
Prussia,  who  appeared  to  have  as  much  inclination  for  war  as 
his  father  had  had  for  peace,  began  by  seizing  on  Stettin  and 
part  of  Pomerania,  as  an  equivalent  for  four  hundred  thou- 
sand crowns  which  he  had  advanced  to  the  king  of  Den- 
mark and  to  the  czar. 

George,  elector  of  Hanover,  now  become  king  of  En- 
gland, had  likewise  sequestered  into  his  hands  the  dutchy  of 
Bremen  and  Verdun,  which  the  king  of  Denmark  had  as- 
signed to  him  as  a  deposit  for  sixty  thousand  pistoles.  Thus 
did  they  dispose  of  the  spoils  of  Charles  XII. ;  and  those 
who  possessed  any  of  his  dominions  as  pledges,  became, 
from  their  interests,  as  dangerous  enemies  as  those  who  had 
taken  them. 

As  to  the  czar,  he  was  doubtless  the  most  to  be  feared  : 
his  former  defeats,  his  victories,  his  very  faults,  his  perseve- 
rance to  instruct  himself,  and  then  to  communicate  that 
knowledge  to  his  subjects,  together  with  his  incessant  la- 
bours, had  made  him  a  great  man  in  every  respect.  Riga 
was  already  taken ;  Livonia,  Ingria,  Carelia,  half  of  Fin- 
land, so  many  provinces  that  had  been  conquered  by  Charles's 
ancestors,  were  now  subjected  to  the  Russian  yoke. 

Peter  Alexiowitz,  who,  twenty  years  before,  had  not  a 
single  vessel  in  the  Baltic,  at  this  time  beheld  himself 
master  of  that  sea,  at  the  head  of  a  fleet  of  thirty  ships  of  the 
line. 

One  of  these  ships  had  been  built  by  his  own  hands;  he 
being  the  best  carpenter,  the  best  admiral,  and  the  best  pilot 
in  the  north.    There  was  not  a  difficult  passage  of  the  gulf 


238  HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


of  Bothnia  to  the  ocean  which  he  had  not  sounded  himself; 
and  having  thus  joined  the  labours  of  a  common  sailor  to  the 
experience  of  a  philosopher  and  the  plans  of  an  emperor,  he 
arrived  by  degrees,  and  by  dint  of  victories,  to  the  rank  of 
admiral,  in  the  same  manner  as  he  had  become  a  general  in 
the  land  service. 

While  Prince  Gallitzin,  a  general  formed  under  his  own 
auspices,  and  one  of  those  who  seconded  his  enterprises  the 
best,  completed  the  conquest  of  Finland,  took  the  town  of 
Vasa,  and  beat  the  Swedes ;  the  emperor  put  to  sea,  in 
order  to  take  the  island  of  Alan,  situated  in  the  Baltic, 
about  twelve  leagues  from  Stockholm. 

He  set  out  on  this  expedition  in  the  beginning  of  July, 
1714,  at  the  time  that  his  rival,  Charles  XII.,  was  keeping 
his  bed  at  Demotica.  He  embarked  at  Gronslot  port,  which 
he  had  built  some  years  before,  about  four  miles  from  Pe- 
tersburgh.  The  new  port,  the  fleet  which  it  contained,  the 
officers,  the  sailors,  were  all  the  work  of  his  own  hands  ; 
and  wherever  he  turned  his  eyes,  he  could  behold  nothing 
but  what  he  himself  had  in  some  measure  created. 

The  Russian  fleet,  which  consisted  of  thirty  ships  o(  the 
line,  eighty  gallies,  and  a  hundred  half  gallies,  found  itself, 
on  the  15th  of  July,  on  the  coast  of  Alan.  There  were 
twenty  thousand  soldiers  on  board  :  Admiral  Apraxin  was 
commander-in-chief ;  and  the  Russian  emperor  served  in  the 
capacity  of  rear-admiral.  On  the  16th,  the  Swedish  fleet, 
commanded  by  Vice-Admiral  Erinchild,  came  up ;  and,  though 
weaker  by  two-thirds,  maintained  a  fight  for  the  space  of 
three  hours.  The  czar  attacked  Erinchild's  ship,  and  took 
her  after  an  obstinate  engagement. 

The  day  of  the  victory  he  landed  sixteen  thousand  men 
on  the  isle  of  Alan ;  and  having  taken  a  number  of  Swedish 
soldiers  that  had  not  been  able  to  get  on  board  Erinchild's 
fleet,  he  carried  them  off  in  his  own  ships.  He  returned 
into  his  harbour  of  Gronslot,  with  Erinchild's  large  ship, 
three  others  of  less  size,  one  frigate,  and  six  gallies,  which 
he  had  made  himself  master  of  in  this  engagement. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


239 


Having  left  Gronslot,  he  arrived  at  Petersburgh,  followed 
by  the  whole  of  his  victorious  fleet,  together  with  the  ships 
taken  from  the  enemy.  He  was  saluted  by  a  triple  discharge 
of  a  hundred  and  fifty  pieces  of  cannon ;  after  which  he 
made  a  triumphal  entry,  which  flattered  his  vanity  still  more 
than  that  at  Moscow,  because  he  received  these  honours  in 
his  favourite  town,  where  but  ten  years  before  there  was 
not  a  single  hut,  and  where,  at  that  time,  he  beheld  thirty- 
four  thousand  five  hundred  houses ;  in  short,  because  he  saw 
himself  not  only  at  the  head  of  a  victorious  navy,  but  of  the 
first  Russian  fleet  that  was  ever  seen  in  the  Baltic  Sea,  and 
in  a  country  in  which,  before  his  time,  the  very  name  of  a 
fleet  was  unknown. 

Almost  the  same  ceremonies  were  observed  at  Peters- 
burgh which  had  decorated  the  triumph  at  Moscow.  The 
Swedish  vice-admiral  was  the  principal  ornament  of  this 
new  triumph.  Peter  Alexiowitz  appeared  as  rear-admiral. 
A  Russian  boyard,  named  Romanodowsky,  who  usually  re- 
presented the  czar  on  these  solemn  occasions,  was  seated 
on  a  throne  surrounded  by  twelve  senators.  The  rear-ad- 
miral presented  to  him  a  relation  of  his  victory,  and  was  de- 
clared vice-admiral,  in  consideration  of  his  services ;  a  whim- 
sical ceremony,  but  at  the  same  time  proper  in  a  country 
where  military  subordination  was  one  of  the  novelties  which 
the  czar  had  introduced. 

The  emperor  of  Russia,  at  last  victorious  over  the  Swedes 
by  sea  and  land,  and  having  assisted  in  driving  them  from 
Poland,  began  to  exercise  his  authority  there  in  his  turn. 
He  had  made  himself  a  mediator  between  Augustus  and  the 
republic ;  a  glory,  perhaps,  not  inferior  to  that  of  creating  a 
king.  This  honour,  and,  indeed,  all  the  good  fortune  of 
Charles,  had  fallen  to  the  czar,  who  certainly  made  a  better 
use  of  these  advantages  than  his  rival,  as  his  successes  were 
80  managed  as  to  contribute  to  the  interest  of  his  country. 
If  he  took  a  town,  the  principal  artizans  in  it  carried  their 
industry  along  with  them  to  Petersburgh.    The  manufao- 


240 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


tures,  the  arts  and  sciences  of  the  provinces  which  he  con- 
quered in  Sweden,  were  transported  into  Muscovy,  his  do- 
minions were  enriched  by  his  victories,  a  circumstance  that 
makes  him  the  most  excusable  of  all  conquerors. 

Sweden,  on  the  contrary,  despoiled  of  almost  all  her  pro- 
vinces beyond  sea,  had  neither  commerce,  money,  nor 
credit.  Her  veteran  troops,  which  formerly  were  so  formi- 
dable, had  either  fallen  in  battle  or  perished  with  hunger. 
More  than  a  hundred  thousand  Swedes  were  slaves  in  the 
vast  dominions  of  the  czar;  and  about  the  same  number  had 
been  sold  to  the  Turks  and  Tartars.  The  human  species 
visibly  diminished,  but  hope  revived  as  soon  as  the  king  was 
known  to  be  at  Stralsund. 

The  impressions  of  respect  and  admiration  for  him  were 
still  so  strongly  implanted  in  the  minds  of  his  subjects, 
that  the  youth  of  the  country  came  in  crowds  to  enlist  un- 
der his  banners,  though  their  native  soil  wanted  hands  to 
cultivate  it 


t 

KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


241 


BOOK  VIII. 

Argument. — Charles  gives  his  sister  in  marriage  to  the  prince  of 
Hesse. — Is  besieged  at  Stralsund,  and  escapes  to  Sweden. — Enter- 
prise of  Baron  de  Gortz,  his  prime  minister. — Plan  of  a  reconcilia- 
tion with  the  czar,  and  of  a  descent  upon  England. — Charles  besieges 
Frederickshall  in  Norway. — Is  killed. — His  character. — Gortz  is  be- 
headed. 

The  king,  in  the  midst  of  these  preparations,  gave  his 
only  surviving  sister,  Ulrica-Eleonora,  in  marriage  to  Fre- 
derick prince  of  Hesse  Cassel.  The  queen-dowager,  grand- 
mother of  Charles  XII.  and  the  princess,  at  that  time  in  the 
eightieth  year  of  her  age,  did  the  honours  of  this  festival, 
on  the  fourth  of  April,  1715,  in  the  palace  of  Stockholm? 
and  died  a  little  time  after. 

The  marriage  was  not  honoured  with  the  presence  of  the# 
king ;  he  was  still  at  Stralsund,  finishing  the  fortifications  of 
that  important  place,  threatened  with  a  siege  by  the  kings 
of  Denmark  and  Prussia.  He  declared,  however,  his  bro- 
ther-in-law generalissimo  of  all  his  forces  in  Sweden.  This 
prince  had  served  the  States-General  in  their  wars  with  the 
French,  and  was  esteemed  a  good  general ;  a  qualification 
which  contributed  not  a  little  to  procure  him  the  sister  of 
Charles  XII.  in  marriage. 

Misfortunes  now  followed  one  another  as  rapidly  as  victo- 
ries had  formerly  done.  In  the  month  of  June,  1715,  the 
German  troops  of  the  king  of  England,  with  those  of  Den- 
mark, invested  the  strong  town  of  Wismar :  the  Danes  and 
Saxons  united  formed  about  thirty-six  thousand  men,  who 
marched  towards  Stralsund,  to  form  the  siege  of  that  place. 
The  kings  of  Denmark  and  Prussia  sunk  five  Swedish  ships 
near  to  Stralsund.  The  czar  was  then  in  the  Baltic,  with 
twenty  large  ships  of  war,  and  a  hundred  and  fifty  transports, 
on  board  of  which  were  thirty  thousand  men.  He  menaced 
L  21 


242  Hlis  1 ORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 

a  descent  upon  Sweden  ;  sometimes  advancing  near  to  the 
coast  of  Helsimburgh,  and  at  others  appearing  before  Stock- 
holm. All  Sweden  was  in  arms  upon  the  coasts,  every 
moment  expecting  an  invasion.  In  the  mean  time,  the  czar's 
land  forces  drove  the  Swedes  from  post  to  post,  until  they 
had  dispossessed  them  of  all  the  places  they  still  held  in 
Finland,  toward  the  gulf  of  Bothnia ;  but  the  czar  carried 
his  conquests  no  farther. 

At  the  mouth  of  the  Oder,  a  river  that  divides  Pomerania, 
and,  after  washing  the  walls  of  Stetin,  falls  into  the  Baltic 
Sea,  is  the  little  isle  of  Usedom  :  this  place  is  of  great  im- 
portance on  account  of  its  situation,  which  commands  the 
Oder,  both  on  the  right  and  left ;  so  that  the  person  who  is 
master  of  this  island,  is  at  the  same  time  master  of  the  navi- 
gation of  the  river.  The  king  of  Prussia  had  dislodged  the 
Swedes  from  this  place,  and  had  taken  possession  of  it,  as 
well  as  of  Stetin,  which  he  kept  sequestered,  and  all,  as  he 
said,  pour  V amour  de  la  paix,  i.  e.  "for  the  love  of  peace." 
The  Swedes  had  retaken  Usedom  in  the  month  of  May, 
1715.  They  had  two  forts  there  ;  one  of  which  was  the  fort 
of  Suine,  upon  the  branch  of  the  Oder  that  bore  the  same 
name ;  the  other,  a  place  of  more  consequence,  was  called 
Pennamender,  situated  upon  the  other  branch  of  the  river. 
The  king  of  Sweden  had  but  two  hundred  and  fifty  Pome- 
ranian soldiers  to  defend  two  forts  and  the 'whole  island, 
commanded  by  an  old  Swedish  officer  named  Kuze-Slerp, 
whose  name  deserves  to  be  preserved. 

On  the  fourth  of  August,  the  king  of  Prussia  sent  fifteen 
hundred  foot  and  eight  hundred  dragoons  to  make  a  descent 
upon  the  island,  and  they  landed  without  opposition  near 
the  fort  of  Suine.  The  Swedish  commander  abandoned  this 
fort  to  the  enemy,  as  being  the  least  important ;  and  as  he 
could  not  safely  divide  his  men,  he  retired  with  his  little 
troop  to  the  castle  of  Pennamender,  resolute  to  defend  it  to 
the  last  extremity. 

There  was,  therefore,  a  necessity  of  besieging  it  in  form. 
A  train  of  artillery  was  embarked  at  Stetin  for  this  effect, 


KING  OF  SWEDEN.  243 

and  the  Prussian  troops  were  reinforced  with  a  thousand 
foot  and  four  hundred  horse.  On  the  18th  of  August  the 
trenches  were  opened  in  two  places,  and  the  fort  was  brisk- 
ly battered  with  cannon  and  mortars.  During  the  siege,  a 
Swedish  soldier,  who  was  charged  with  a  private  letter  from 
Charles  XII.,  found  means  to  land  on  the  island,  to  get  into 
the  fort  of  Pennamender,  and  to  deliver  the  letter  to  the  com- 
mander ;  it  was  couched  in  the  following  words  :  "  Do 
not  fire  till  the  enemy  come  to  the  brink  of  the  fosse  ;  de- 
fend the  place  to  the  last  drop  of  your  blood ;  I  commend 
you  to  your  good  fortune.  Charles." 

Slerp  having  read  the  note,  resolved  to  obey,  and  to  lay 
down  his  life,  as  he  was  ordered,  for  the  service  of  his  mas- 
ter. On  the  twenty-second,  at  the  break  of  day,  the  enemy 
began  the  assault ;  the  besieged  having  kept  in  their  fire  till 
they  saw  the  besiegers  on  the  brink  of  the  fosse,  killed  a 
great  number  of  them  ;  but  the  ditch  was  full,  the  breach 
enlarged,  and  the  assailants  too  numerous.  They  entered 
the  castle  at  two  different  places  at  one  time.  The  com- 
mander thought  of  nothing  but  of  selling  his  life  as  dear  as 
possible,  and  obeying  his  master's  letter.  He  abandoned  if* 
breaches  through  which  the  enemy  entered ;  intrenched 
little  company,  who  had  all  the  courage  and  fidelity  to 
follow  him,  behind  a  bastion,  and  posted  them  in  such  a 
manner,  that* they  could  not  be  surrounded.  The  enemy 
came  up  to  him,  astonished  that  he  did  not  ask  for  quarter. 
He  fought  for  a  whole  hour ;  and,  after  having  lost  the  half 
of  his  men,  was  at  last  killed,  together  with  his  lieutenant 
and  major.  After  this,  the  surviving  few,  amounting  to  a 
hundred  soldiers  and  one  officer,  begged  their  lives,  and 
were  made  prisoners  of  war.  They  found  Charles's  letter 
in  the  commander's  pocket,  and  carried  it  to  the  king  of 
Prussia. 

At  the  time  that  Charles  lost  Usedom,  and  the  neighbour- 
ing isles,  which  were  soon  after  taken;  that  Wismar  was 
ready  to  surrender ;  that  he  no  longer  possessed  a  fleet,  and 
Sweden  was  threatened  with  an  invasion ;  he  himself  was 


244  HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


in  Stralsund,  and  that  place  was  already  besieged  by  thirty- 
six  thousand  men. 

Stralsund,  a  town  become  famous  throughout  Europe  for 
the  siege  which  the  king  of  Sweden  sustained  in  it,  is  the 
strongest  place  in  Pomerania.  It  is  situated  between  the 
Baltic  Sea  and  the  lake  of  Franken,  upon  the  straits  of  Gel- 
la  ;  having  no  entrance  to  it  by  land,  except  by  a  narrow 
causeway,  defended  by  a  citadel,  and  by  fortifications  which 
were  imagined  inaccessible.  It  had  a  garrison  of  about  nine 
thousand  men,  and  what  was  beyond  all,  the  king  of  Sweden 
himself.  The  kings  of  Denmark  and  Prussia  undertook  the 
siege  of  this  place,  with  an  army  of  six-and-thirty  thousand 
men,  composed  of  Prussians,  Danes,  and  Saxons. 

The  honour  of  besieging  Charles  XII.  was  so  powerful  a 
motive,  that  they  soon  surmounted  every  obstacle,  and  open- 
ed the  trenches  in  the  night,  between  the  19th  and  20th  of 
October,  1715.  The  king  of  Sweden,  at  the  beginning  of 
the  siege,  said,  that  he  could  not  comprehend  how  a  place 
well  fortified,  and  provided  with  a  sufficient  garrison,  could 
be  taken.  Not  but  that  in  the  course  of  his  past  victories 
he  had  taken  several  places  himself,  but  hardly  ever  by  a 
regular  siege ;  the  terror  of  his  arms  had  carried  every  thing 
before  them;  besides,  he  never  judged  of  other  people  by 
himself,  but'  always  entertained  too  low  an  opinion  of  his 
enemies.  The  besiegers  carried  on  their  works  with  vigour 
and  resolution,  and  were  seconded  by  a  very  singular  acci- 
dent. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  Baltic  Sea  neither  ebbs  nor  flows. 
The  intrenchments  which  covered  the  town,  and  which  were 
defended  on  the  west  by  an  impassable  morass,  and  by  the 
sea  on  the  east,  seemed  to  .be  secure  from  every  assault.  No- 
body had  ever  noticed,  that  when  the  west  wind  blew  with 
any  violence,  the  waves  of  the  Baltic  were  driven  back  in 
such  a  manner,  as  to  leave  but  three  feet  depth  of  water  un- 
der the  fortifications,  which  had  always  been  supposed  to  be 
washed  by  so  great  a  depth  of  water,  as  to  be  impracticable. 
A  soldier  having  fallen  from  the  top  of  the  fortifications  into 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


245 


the  sea,  was  astonished  to  find  a  bottom ;  he  imagined  that 
this  discovery  might  make  his  fortune,  and  accordingly  de- 
serted, and  went  to  the  quarters  of  Count  Wackenbarth,  ge- 
neral of  the  Saxon  troops,  to  inform  him  that  the  sea  was 
fordable,  and  that  he  might  penetrate,  without  much  diffi- 
culty, to  the  Swedish  fortifications.  The  king  of  Prussia  did 
not  delay  to  profit  by  this  intelligence. 

In  the  middle  of  the  next  night,  the  west  wind  still  con- 
tinuing, Lieutenant  Colonel  Koppen  entered  the  water, 
followed  by  eighteen  hundred  men  ;  two  thousand  advanced 
at  the  same  time  upon  the  causeway  that  led  to  the  fort ;  all 
the  Prussian  artillery  fired,  and  the  Danes  and  Prussians 
gave  an  alarm  on  the  other  side. 

The  Swedes  imagined  themselves  sure  of  destroying  the 
two  thousand  men  whom  they  saw  advancing  with  so  much 
apparent  rashness  upon  the  causeway ;  but  all  of  a  sudden, 
Koppen,  with  his  eighteen  hundred  men,  entered  the  in- 
trenchment  on  the  side  toward  the  sea.  The  Swedes,  sur- 
rounded and  surprised,  could  make  no  resistance,  and  the 
post  was  carried  after  a  terrible  carnage.  Some  of  the 
Swedes  fled  toward  the  town  ;  the  besiegers  pursued  them 
thither,  and  entered  pell-mell  along  with  the  fugitives  :  two 
officers  and  four  Saxon  soldiers  were  already  on  the  draw- 
bridge, which  the  Swedes  had  just  time  to  raise ;  so  that  the 
men  were  taken,  and  the  town  saved  for  that  time. 

The  enemy  found  in  the  fort  twenty-four  pieces  of  can- 
non, which  they  immediately  turned  against  Stralsund.  The 
siege  was  pushed  with  such  vigour  and  confidence  as  this 
success  could  not  fail  to  inspire.  The  town  was  cannonaded 
and  bombarded  almost  without  intermission, 

Opposite  to  Stralsund,  in  the  Baltic  Sea,  is  the  isle  of  Ru- 
gen,  which  serves  as  a  bulwark  to  that  place,  and  into  which 
the  garrison  and  citizens  might  have  retired,  had  they  had 
boats  to  have  transported  them  thither.  This  island  was  of 
great  consequence  to  Charles  ;  he  saw  very  clearly,  that  if 
the  enemy  were  once  masters  of  it,  he  should  find  himself 
besieged  both  by  sea  and  land  •  and  perhaps  be  reduced 


246 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


to  so  great  extremities,  that  he  must  either  bury  himself  in 
the  ruins  of  Stralsund,  or  become  a  prisoner  to  those  very 
enemies  whom  he  had  so  long  despised,  and  upon  whom 
he  had  imposed  the  most  severe  laws.  But,  notwithstand- 
ing all  this,  the  unhappy  situation  of  his  affairs  did  not  per- 
mit him  to  place  a  sufficient  garrison  in  Rugen,  in  which 
there  were  not  more  than  two  thousand  men. 

His  enemies  had  been  employed  for  three  months  before, 
in  making  all  the  necessary  preparations  for  a  descent  upon 
this  island,  upon  which  it  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  effect  a 
landing.  At  last,  having  finished  a  number  of  boats,  the 
prince  of  Anhalt,  with  the  assistance  of  favourable  weather, 
landed  twelve  thousand  men  upon  Rugen,  on  the  fifteenth 
of  November.  The  king,  who  seemed  to  be  present  every 
where,  was  at  that  time  in  the  island  ;  he  had  just  before 
joined  his  two  thousand  men,  who  were  intrenched  near  a 
small  port,  three  leagues  from  the  place  where  the  enemy 
had  landed  ;  he  immediately  put  himself  at  the  head  of  this 
little  troop,  and,  observing  the  most  profound  silence,  advan- 
ced in  the  middle  of  the  night  toward  the  enemy.  The 
prince  of  Anhalt  had  already  intrenched  his  forces,  with  a 
precaution  which  appeared  unnecessary.  The  officers  com- 
manding under  him,  had  no  idea  of  being  attacked  the  very 
first  night,  and  imagined  Charles  to  be  at  Stralsund ;  but  the 
prince  of  Anhalt,  who  well  knew  what  C hade's  was  capa- 
ble of,  had  caused  a  deep  fosse  to  be  sunk,  fenced  with  a 
chevaux-de-frise,  and  taken  all  his  measures  with  as  much 
circumspection  as  if  he  had  a  superior  army  to  contend  with. 

At  two  in  the  morning  Charles  came  up  with  his  enemies, 
without  making  the  least  noise.  His  soldiers  saying  to  each 
other,  "  pull  up  the  chevaux-de-frise,"  the  words  were  over- 
heard by  the  sentinels,  the  alarm  was  immediately  given 
through  the  camp,  and  the  enemies  were  instantly  under 
arms.  The  king,  having  taken  up  the  chevaux-de-frise, 
perceived  a  deep  fosse  before  him.  "  Ah  !"  said  he,  "  is  it 
possible !  I  did  not  expect  this."  However,  this  surprise 
did  not  discourage  him.    He  knew  not  the  number  of  troops 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


247 


landed  ;  the  enemy  also,  on  their  side,  were  ignorant  what 
a  small  number  they  had  to  engage  with.  The  darkness  of 
the  night  seemed  favourable  to  Charles  ;  he  took  his  reso- 
lution in  a  moment,  and  jumped  into  the  ditch,  accompanied 
by  the  bravest  of  his  men,  and  instantly  followed  by  the  rest : 
the  chevaux-de-frise  which  were  plucked  up,  the  levelled 
earth,  the  trunks  and  branches  of  such  trees  as  they  could 
find,  and  the  carcases  of  the  soldiers  that  were  killed  by 
random  shot,  served  for  fascines.  The  king,  the  generals, 
and  the  bravest  of  the  officers  and  soldiers,  mounted  upon 
one  another's  shoulders,  as  in  an  assault.  The  battle  is 
now  fought  in  the  enemy's  camp.  The  impetuosity  of  the 
Swedes  soon  threw  the  Danes  and  Prussians  into  confusion  j 
but  the  numbers  were  too  unequal ;  the  Swedes  were  re- 
pulsed, after  fighting  for  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  and  were 
obliged  to  repass  the  fosse.  The  prince  of  Anhalt  pursued 
them  into  the  plain,  but  knew  not  that  it  was  Charles  XII. 
that  fled  before  him.  That  unfortunate  king  rallied  his 
troops  in  the  open  field,  and  the  battle  was  renewed  with 
equal  obstinacy  on  both  sides.  Grothusen,  the  king's  fa- 
vourite, and  General  Dardoff,  fell  dead  at  his  feet.  In  the 
heat  of  the  battle,  Charles  passed  over  the  body  of  the  lat- 
ter, who  was  still  breathing.  During,  the  only  person  who 
had  accompanied  him  in  his  journey  from  Turkey  to  Stral- 
sund,  was  killed  before  his  face. 

In  the  midst  of  the  tumult,  a  Danish  lieutenant,  whose 
name  I  have  never  been  able  to  learn,  recognized  the  king; 
and  seizing  his  sword  with  one  hand,  and  with  the  other 
pulling  him  violently  by  the  hair,  said  to  him,  "  Yield,  Sire, 
or  I  kill  you."  The  king  had  a  pistol  in  his  belt,  which  he 
fired  with  his  left  hand  at  that  officer,  who  died  of  the 
wound  the  next  morning.  The  name  of  King  Charles, 
which  the  Dane  had  pronounced,  immediately  drew  a  crowd 
of  the  enemy  together.  The  king  was  surrounded,  and  re- 
ceived a  musket-shot  below  the  nipple  of  his  left  breast : 
this  wound,  which  he  called  a  contusion,  was  two  fingers 
deep.    The  king  was  on  foot,  and  in  danger  of  either  being 


248 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


killed  or  taken  prisoner.  Count  Poniatowsky  was  fighting, 
at  this  time,  near  his  majesty's  person.  He  had  saved  his 
life  at  Pultowa,  and  had  now  the  good  fortune  to  save  it 
once  more  in  the  battle  of  Rugen ;  he  set  him  on  horse- 
back. 

The  Swedes  retired  to  a  part  of  the  island  called  Alteferra, 
where  there  was  a  fort,  of  which  they  were  still  masters. 
From  thence  the  king  repassed  over  to  Stralsund,  obliged  to 
abandon  his  brave  troops,  who  had  so  well  seconded  him  in 
this  enterprise ;  and  two  days  after  they  were  all  made  pri- 
soners of  war. 

Among  the  prisoners  was  that  unhappy  French  regiment, 
composed  of  the  shattered  remains  of  the  battle  of  Hoch- 
stet,  which  had  entered  into  the  service  of  Augustus,  and 
afterwards  into  that  of  the  king  of  Sweden.  The  greatest 
part  of  the  soldiers  w^ere  now  incorporated  into  a  new  regi- 
ment, commanded  by  the  prince  of  Anhalt's  son,  who  was 
their  fourth  master. 

The  commander  of  this  wandering  regiment  in  the  isle  of 
Rugen,  was  the  same  Count  de  Vilielongue  who  had  so  ge- 
nerously exposed  his  life  at  Adrianople  in  the  service  of 
Charles.  He  was  taken  prisoner  with  his  troop,  and  was 
afterwards  but  poorly  recompensed  for  all  his  services,  la- 
bours, and  sufferings. 

The  king,  after  all  these  prodigies  of  valour,  which  served 
only  to  weaken  his  forces,  shut  up  in  Stralsund,  and  near 
being  forced  in  it,  was  the  same  he  had  been  at  Bender.  He 
was  shaken  by  nothing ;  he  employed  the  day  in  making 
ditches  and  intrenchments  behind  the  walls,  and  in  the  night 
he  made  sallies  upon  the  enemy.  In  the  mean  time,  Stral- 
sund was  battered  in  breach  :  the  bombs  fell  as  thick  as  hail 
upon  the  houses,  and  half  the  town  was  reduced  to  ashes ; 
the  citizens,  however,  so  far  from  complaining,  were  filled 
with  the  highest  veneration  for  their  royal  master,  whose  fa- 
tigues, temperance,  and  courage,  astonished  them ;  they  were 
all  become  soldiers  under  him ;  they  accompanied  him  in  all 
his  sallies,  and  served  him  the  place  of  a  second  garrison* 

1 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


249 


One  day,  as  the  king  was  dictating  some  letters  to  his 
secretary,  to  be  sent  to  Sweden,  a  bomb  fell  on  the  house, 
pierced  the  roof,  and  burst  near  the  apartment  in  which  he 
was.  One  half  of  the  floor  was  shattered  to  pieces ;  the 
closet  where  the  king  was  employed,  being  partly  formed 
out  of  a  thick  wall,  did  not  suffer  by  the  explosion  ;  and,  by 
an  astonishing  piece  of  fortune,  none  of  the  splinters  that 
flew  about  in  the  air  entered  at  the  closet-door,  which  hap- 
pened to  be  open.  The  report  of  the  bomb,  and  the  noise 
it  occasioned  in  the  house,  which  seemed  ready  to  tumble, 
made  the  secretary  drop  his  pen.  "  What  is  the  mat- 
ter," said  the  king,  with  a  placid  air,  "  why  do  you  not 
write  ?"  The  secretary  could  only  say,  "  Ah,  sire,  the 
bomb  !"  "Well,"  replied  the  king,  "  what  has  the  bomb 
to  do  with  the  letter  I  am  dictating  to  you  ?    Go  on." 

There  was,  at  this  time,  an  ambassador  of  France  shut  up 
with  the  king  of  Sweden  in  Stralsund.  It  was  Monsieur 
Colbert,  Count  de  Croissy,  a  lieutenant-general  in  the 
French  army,  brother  to  the  Marquis  de  Torcy,  the  cele- 
brated minister  of  state,  and:  a  relation  of  the  famous  Col- 
bert, whose  name  ought  to  be  immortal  in  France.  To  send 
a  man  into  the  trenches  or  on  an  embassy  to  Charles  XII. 
was  pretty  nigh  the  same  thing.  The  king  would  talk  with 
Croissy  for  whole  hours  together  in  the  most  exposed  places, 
while  the  soldiers  were  falling  on  every  side  of  them  by  the  fire 
of  the  cannon  and  bombs,  without  appearing  in  the  least  sen- 
sible of  the  risk  he  run,  and  the  ambassador  not  choosing  to 
give  his  majesty  so  much  as  a  hint  that  there  were  more  proper 
places  to  talk  of  business.  This  minister  did  every  thing  he 
was  able,  before  the  siege  began,  to  effect  an  .accommoda- 
tion between  the  kings  of  Sweden  and  Prussia ;  but  the  de- 
mands of  the  latter  were  too  high,  and  Charles  would  make 
no  concessions.  Count  de  Croissy  derived  no  other,  satis- 
faction from  his  embassy,  than  the  pleasure  of  enjoying  the 
familiarity  of  that  singular  man.  He  often  lay  by  his  ma- 
jesty upon  the  same  cloak ;  and  had,  by  partaking  of  all  his 
dangers  and  fatigues,  acquired  a  right  of  talking  to  him  with 


250 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  Xn. 


freedom.  Charles  encouraged  this  boldness  in  those  he 
loved ;  and  would  sometimes  say  to  the  Count  de  Croissy, 
u  Veni,  maledicamus  de  rege i.  e.  "  Come,  now  let  us 
make  free  with  the  character  of  the  king."  This  account  I 
had  from  the  ambassador  himself. 

Croissy  continued  in  the  town  till  the  13th  of  November, 
when,  having  obtained  from  the  enemy  permission  to  go 
away  with  his  baggage,  he  took  his  leave  of  the  king,  whom 
he  left  amidst  the  ruins  of  Stralsund,  with  a  garrison  di- 
minished by  one  half,  and  resolved  to  stand  an  assault. 

In  short,  two  days  after,  an  assault  was  actually  made  upon 
the  horn-work.  The  enemy  twice  took  it,  and  twice  were 
driven  back.  The  king  fought  the  whole  time  amidst  his 
grenadiers ;  but  at  last  numbers  prevailed,  and  the  besiegers 
remained  masters  of  the  place ;  Charles  continued  in  the 
town  two  days  after  this,  expecting  every  moment  a  general 
assault.  On  the  21st  he  staid  till  midnight  upon  a  little 
ravelin,  that  was  entirely  demolished  by  the  bombs  and 
cannon  :  the  next  day,  the  principal  officers  conjured  him 
not  to  stay  in  a  place  which  it  was  no  longer  possible  to  de- 
fend ;  but  his  retreat  was  now  become  as  dangerous  as  the 
place  itself.  The  Baltic  Sea  was  covered  with  Russian  and 
Danish  ships,  and  there  were  no  vessels  in  the  harbour  of 
Stralsund  but  one  small  bark  with  sails  and  oars.  So  many 
dangers,  which  would  render  his  retreat  illustrious,  deter- 
mined Charles  to  attempt  it.  He  embarked  in  the  night  on 
the  20th  of  December,  1715,  accompanied  by  ten  persons 
only.  They  were  obliged  to  break  the  ice  with  which  the 
water  of  the  port  was  covered  ;  a  laborious  task,  which  em- 
ployed them  several  hours  before  the  bark  could  sail  freely. 
The  enemy's  admirals  had  positive  orders  not  to  suffer 
Charles  to  escape  from  Stralsund,  but  to  take  him,  dead  or 
alive.  Happily  they  were  under  the  wind,  and  were  not 
able  to  get  to  him ;  but  he  run  a  still  greater  risk  in  passing 
by  a  place  called  La  Barbette,  in  the  Isle  of  Rugen,  where 
the  Danes  had  erected  a  battery  of  twelve  cannon,  from 
which  they  fired  upon  him.   The  mariners  spread  every  sail, 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


251 


and  plied  every  oar,  to  get  clear  of  the  enemy ;  but  notwith- 
standing, a  cannon  ball  killed  two  men  by  the  king's  side, 
and  another  shattered  the  mast  of  the  bark.  In  the  midst 
of  these  dangers,  the  king  escaped  unhurt,  and  at  last  came 
up  with  two  of  his  own  ships  that  were  cruising  in  the  Bal- 
tic. The  next  day  Stralsund  surrendered,  and  the  garrison 
were  made  prisoners  of  war.  Charles  landed  at  Isted,  in 
Scania,  from  which  place  he  repaired  to  Carlescroon,  in  a 
condition  very  different  from  what  he  was  in,  when,  about 
fifteen  years  before,  he  set  sail  from  that  harbour  in  a  ship 
of  an  hundred  and  twenty  guns,  to  give  laws  to  the  north. 

Being  so  near  his  capital,  it  was  expected  that  after  such 
a  long  absence  he  would  visit  that  place  ;  but  his  design  was 
never  to  enter  it  again,  till  he  had  obtained  some  signal  vic- 
tory. Besides,  he  could  not  bear  the  thoughts  of  again  see- 
ing a  people  by  whom  he  was  beloved,  and  whom,  never- 
theless, he  was  obliged  to  oppress,  in  order  to  enable  him 
to  defend  himself  against  his  enemies.  He  only  wanted  to 
see  his  sister,  with  whom  he  appointed  an  interview  on  the 
banks  of  the  lake  Weter,  in  Ostrogothia,  whither  he  rode 
post,  attended  only  by  a  single  domestic,  and  returned  after 
having  spent  a  day  with  her. 

From  Carlescroon,  where  he  sojourned  during  the  winter, 
he  issued  out  orders  for  raising  men  throughout  his  whole 
kingdom.  He  thought  that  his  subjects  were  born  only  to 
follow  him  to  the  field  of  battle,  and  had  accustomed  them 
to  think  so  too.  Young  people  were  enlisted  at  the  age  of 
fifteen ;  and  in  several  villages  there  were  none  left  but  old 
meny  women,  and  children,  and  in  many  places  women  only 
were  seen  ploughing  the  land. 

It  was  still  more  difficult  to  procure  a  fleet.  To  supply 
the  want  of  this,  commissions  were  granted  to  the  owners  of 
privateers,  who,  upon  obtaining  certain  privileges,  unrea- 
sonable in  themselves,  and  destructive  to  the  country,  equip- 
ped a  few  ships  :  these  efforts  were  the  last  resources  of 
Sweden.  To  defray  the  expenses  of  these  preparations,  he 
was  obliged  to  take  the  substance  of  the  people.  Every 


852 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


kind  of  extortion  was  invented,  under  the  name  of  taxes 
and  duties.  Strict  search  was  made  in  every  house,  and  one 
half  of  the  provisions  found  in  them  was  carried  to  the  king's 
magazines  ;  all  the  iron  in  the  kingdom  was  bought  up  for 
his  use,  which  government  paid  for  in  paper,  and  sold  out 
again  for  ready  money.  A  tax  was  laid  on  every  one  who 
wore  any  mixture  of  silk  in  their  clothes,  or  wore  either  pe- 
rukes or  gilt  swords.  A  very  heavy  tax  was  also  laid  on 
chimneys.  The  people,  oppressed  with  such  a  load  of 
taxes,  would  have  revolted  ^under  any  other  king;  but  the 
poorest  peasant  in  Sweden  knew  that  his  master  led  a  life 
still  more  hard  and  frugal  than  himself;  so  that  every  one 
submitted  without  murmuring  to  those  hardships  which  the 
king  was  first  to  suffer. 

The  public  danger  served  to  make  them  forget  their  pri- 
vate misfortunes.  They  expected  every  moment  to  see  their 
country  invaded  by  the  Russians,  the  Danes,  the  Prussians, 
the  Saxons,  and  even  by  the  English  ;  and  this  fear  was  so 
rooted  and  so  strong,  that  those  who  had  money,  or  valuable 
effects,  buried  them  in  the  earth. 

In  effect,  an  English  fleet  had  already  appeared  in  the 
Baltic,  though  its  particular  destination  was  not  known; 
and  the  czar  had  given  his  word  to  the  king  of  Denmark, 
that  the  Russians  should  join  the  Danes,  in  the  spring  of 
1716,  in  order  to  make  a  descent  upon  Sweden. 

But  it  was  an  extreme  surprize  to  all  Europe,  which  was 
attentive  to  the  fortunes  of  Charles  XII.,  when,  instead  of 
defending  his  own  country,  which  was  threatened  by  so 
many  princes,  he  passed,  in  the  month  of  March,  1716,  over 
into  Norway,  with  twenty  thousand  men. 

No  general  had  been  known  since  Hannibal,  who,  from 
inability  to  defend  himself  at  home  against  his  enemies,  had 
undertaken  to  carry  the  war  into  the  heart  of  their  own  do- 
minions. The  prince  of  Hesse,  his  brother-in-law,  accom- 
panied him  in  this  expedition. 

There  is  no  travelling  from  Sweden  to  Norway  but  through 
the  most  dangerous  defiles  ;  and  when  these  are  passed,  one 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


233 


is  continually  meeting  with  so  many  lakes  of  water  formed 
by  the  sea  amongst  the  rocks,  that  there  is  a  necessity  for 
making  bridges  every  day.  A  small  number  of  Danes  might 
have  stopped  the  progress  of  the  whole  Swedish  army;  but 
this  sudden  invasion  they  had  not  foreseen.  Europe  was 
still  more  astonished  that  the  czar  remained  quiet  in  the 
midst  of  all  these  mighty  events,  and*that  he  did  not  make  a 
descent  upon  Sweden,  as  had  formerly  been  stipulated  be- 
tween him  and  his  allies. 

This  inactivity  was  owing  to  one  of  the  greatest,  and  at 
the  same  time  most  difficult,  schemes  that  ever  was  formed 
by  human  imagination. 

The  Baron  Henry  de  Gortz,  a  native  of  Franconia,  and  a 
baron  in  capite  of  the  empire,  having  rendered  several  im- 
portant offices  to  the  king  of  Sweden  during  that  monarches 
stay  at  Bender,  was  now  become  his  favourite  and  first 
minister. 

Never  was  there  a  man  so  bold,  and,  at  the  same  time,  so 
artful;  so  full  of  expedients  amidst  misfortunes;  so  un- 
bounded in  his  designs,  or  so  active  in  the  prosecution  of 
them :  he  was  frightened  by  no  project,  he  scrupled  no 
means ;  he  lavished  gifts,  promises,  oaths,  truth,  and  false- 
hood. 

From  Sweden  he  went  to  France,  England,  and  Holland, 
to  try  those  secret  springs  which  he  afterwards  meant  to  put 
in  motion.  He  was  capable  of  disturbing  all  Europe ;  and, 
indeed,  he  had  such  a  plan  in  his  mind.  What  his  master 
was  at  the  head  of  an  army,  he  was  in  the  cabinet;  and  in 
consequence  he  had  acquired  an  ascendancy  over  Charles, 
which  no  minister  had  possessed  before  him. 

That  king,  who  when  only  twenty  years  of  age  had  pre- 
scribed orders  to  Count  Piper,  now  received  instructions 
from  Baron  de  Gortz  ;  so  much  the  more  submissive  to  the 
direction  of  that  minister,  as  his  misfortunes  obliged  him  to 
listen  to  the  advice  of  others,  and  as  Gortz  never  gave  him 
any  but  such  as  was  conformable  to  his  courage.  He  re- 
marked, that  of  all  the  princes  united  against  Sweden,  George, 


354 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


elector  of  Hanover  and  king  of  England,  was  the  one  against 
whom  Charles  was  most  highly  incensed,  because  he  was 
the  only  one  that  he  had  never  offended ;  and  because 
George  had  entered  into  the  quarrel  under  the  pretext  of  ac- 
commodating it,  but  in  reality  to  keep  Bremen  and  Verdun, 
to  which  he  seemed  to  have  no  other  right  than  that  of  ha- 
ving bought  them  for  a  trifle  from  the  king  of  Denmark,  to 
whom,  after  all,  they  did  not  belong. 

He  also  suspected  that  the  czar  was  secretly  dissatisfied 
with  his  allies,  who  had  all  conspired  to  hinder  him  from  ac- 
quiring an  establishment  in  Germany,  where  that  monarch, 
already  become  too  formidable,  wanted  only  to  obtain  a 
footing.  Wismar,  the  only  town  which  still  remained  to  the 
Swedes  on  the  frontiers  of  Germany,  on  the  14th  of  Februa- 
ry, 1716,  surrendered  to  the  Danes  and  Prussians,  who 
would  not  even  suffer  the  Russian  troops  that  were  then  iD 
Mecklenburgh  to  be  present  at  the  siege.  Similar  jealousies, 
reiterated  for  two  years  together,  had  alienated  the  czar's 
mind  from  the  common  cause,  and  perhaps  prevented  the 
ruin  of  Sweden.  There  are  many  instances  of  several  states 
in  alliance  being  conquered  by  a  single  power,  but  scarcely 
any  of  a  great  empire  being  totally  subdued  by  several  allies  ; 
for  if  their  united  forces  happen,  for  a  time,  to  humble  it, 
their  divisions  soon  give  it  an  opportunity  to  retrieve  its  for- 
mer grandeur. 

The  czar  had  had  it  in  his  power,  from  the  year  1714,  to 
make  a  descent  upon  Sweden;  but  whether  it  was  that  he 
could  not  perfectly  agree  with  the  kings  of  Poland,  England, 
Denmark,  and  Prussia,  allies  justly  jealous  of  his  growing 
power,  or  that  he  did  not  think  his  troops  as  yet  sufficiently 
inured  to  war  to  attack  in  their  own  territories  a  people  whose 
very  peasants  had  conquered  the  flower  of  the  Danish  forces, 
he  still  put  off  the  execution  of  this  enterprise. 

But  what  had  chiefly  stopped  the  progress  of  his  designs, 
was  the  want  of  money.  The  czar  was  one  of  the  most 
powerful  monarchs  in  the  universe,  but  was  far  from  being 
ooc  of  the  richest ;  his  revenues,  at  that  time,  not  exceeding 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


255 


twenty-four  millions  of  livres ;  he  had,  indeed,  discovered 
some  mines  of  gold,  silver,  copper,  and  iron  ;  but  the  profits 
arising  from  these  were  still  uncertain,  and  the  working  of 
them  was  very  expensive.  He  had  likewise  established  an 
extensive  commerce ;  its  beginnings,  however,  brought  him 
in  nothing  but  hopes.  The  provinces  which  he  had  lately 
conquered,  increased  his  revenues  without  augmenting  his 
power  and  glory.  It  required  a  long  time  to  heal  the  wounds 
of  Livonia ;  a  country  extremely  fertile,  but  desolated  by 
fire,  sword,  and  distemper,  and  by  a  war  of  fifteen  years' 
continuance,  destitute  of  inhabitants,  and  as  yet  chargeable 
to  the  conqueror.  The  large  fleets  he  maintained,  and  the 
new  enterprises  which  he  was  daily  undertaking,  contributed 
also  to  exhaust  his  finances.  He  had  even  been  reduced  to 
the  miserable  resource  of  raising  the  value  of  money7  a  re- 
medy that  can  never  cure  the  evils  of  a  state,  and  is  parti- 
cularly prejudicial  to  a  country  which  receives  more  com- 
modities from  strangers  than  it  can  supply  them  with. 

This  was  a  part  of  the  foundation  upon  which  Gortz  had 
built  his  scheme  of  a  revolution.  He  ventured  to  propose 
to  the  king  of  Sweden  to  purchase  peace  from  the  Russian 
emperor  at  any  price  whatsoever;  representing  to  him, 
that  the  czar  was  irritated  against  the  kings  of  Poland  and 
England  ;  and  giving  him  to  understand,  that  were  the  forces 
of  Peter  Alexiowitz  and  Charles  XII.  united,  they  would 
itrike  terror  throughout  Europe. 

There  was  no  other  way  to  accomplish  this  peace  with 
dhe  czar,  than  that  of  yielding  up  a  great  part  of  the  pro- 
vinces which  lay  to  the  east  and  north  of  the  Baltic  Sea ; 
but  then  he  would  represent  to  the  king,  that  in  giving  up 
these  provinces,  which  the  czar  had  already  possessed  him- 
self of,  and  which  it  was  not  in  his  power  to  retake,  he 
might  have  the  glory  of  at  once  replacing  Stanislaus  on  the 
throne  of  Poland,  replacing  the  son  of  James  II.  on  that  of 
England,  and  of  re-establishing  the  duke  of  Holstein  in  his 
dominions. 

Charles,  elated  with  these  great  ideas,  took  no  time  to 


256 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII 


consider  of  this  scheme,  but  immediately  gave  his  minister 
a  carte  blanche.  Gortz  set  out  from  Sweden,  provided  with 
a  power  which  authorized  him  to  do  every  thing  without 
restriction,  and  constituted  him  plenipotentiary  to  any  prince 
with  whom  he  might  judge  it  necessary  to  negotiate.  The 
first  thing  he  did  was  to  sound  the  court  of  Moscow  by 
means  of  a  Scotchman,  named  Erskine,  first  physician  to 
the  czar,  a  man  entirely  devoted  to  the  interest  of  the  pre- 
tender ;  as  was,  indeed,  almost  every  Scotchman  who  did  not 
immediately  subsist  on  the  favours  of  the  court  of  London. 

The  physician  represented  to  Prince  Menzikoff  the  im- 
portance and  glory  of  such  a  project,  with  all  the  vivacity  of 
a  man  who  was  himself  interested  in  the  cause.  Prince 
Menzikoff  relished  the  overtures,  and  the  czar  approved 
them.  Instead,  therefore,  of  making  a  descent  on  Sweden, 
as  he  had  agreed  on  with  his  allies,  he  wintered  his  troops 
in  Mecklenburgh,  and  went  thither  himself,  under  pretence 
of  settling  some  disputes  which  were  then  arising  between 
the  duke  of  Mecklenburgh  and  the  nobility  of  that  country, 
but,  in  fact,  to  pursue  his  favourite  design  of  obtaining  a 
principality  in  Germany,  and  confident  of  persuading  the 
duke  of  Mecklenburgh  to  sell  him  his  sovereignty. 

The  allies  were  much  irritated  at  this  proceeding ;  they 
did  not  wish  to  have  so  formidable  a  neighbour,  who,  having 
once  acquired  possessions  in  Germany,  might  one  day  cause 
himself  to  be  elected  emperor,  and  oppress  its  sovereigns. 
The  more  they  were  enraged,  the  faster  did  this  great  pro- 
ject of  Baron  de  Gortz  advance  toward  success.  He  ne- 
gotiated, notwithstanding,  with  every  one  of  the  confederate 
princes,  for  the  better  carrying  on  his  secret  intrigues ;  and 
the  czar  continued  amusing  them  all  with  various  hopes.  In 
the  mean  time,  Charles  was  in  Norway,  with  his  brother-in- 
law,  the  prince  of  Hesse,  at  the  head  of  twenty  thousand 
men :  this  province  was  defended  only  by  eleven  thousand 
men,  separated  in  different  bodies,  whom  the  king  and  the 
prince  of  Hesse  had  put  to  the  sword. 

Charles  advanced  as  far  as  Christiania,  the  capital  of  this 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


257 


kingdom ;  and  in  this  corner  of  the  globe  fortune  again  be- 
gan to  smile  on  him  ;  but  he  never  took  sufficient  precautions 
to  provide  for  the  subsistence  of  his  troops.  A  Danish  fleet 
and  army  were  approaching  to  the  defence  of  Norway ;  and 
Charles,  being  in  want  of  provisions,  was  obliged  to  return 
to  Sweden,  there  to  wait  the  issue  of  his  minister's  mighty 
projects. 

This  scheme  required  at  once  inviolable  secrecy  and  im- 
mense precautions,  two  things  almost  incompatible.  Gortz 
even  caused  an  assistance  to  be  sought  for  in  the  seas  of 
Asia,  which,  however  odious  it  seemed,  was  not,  on  that 
account,  less  useful  toward  the  descent  in  Scotland,  and 
which,  at  any  rate,  would  have  brought  money,  men,  and 
vessels  into  Sweden. 

The  pirates  of  every  natron,  and  particularly  those  of 
England,  having  entered  into  a  mutual  association,  had  long 
infested  the  seas  of  Europe  and  America ;  but  having  been 
pursued  in  every  part  without  the  least  quarter,  they  had 
lately  retired  to  the  coast  of  Madagascar,  a  large  island  in 
the  east  of  Africa.  These  men  were  all  of  them  despera- 
does, and  most  of  them  famous  for  actions  which  wanted 
nothing  but  justice  to  render  them  truly  heroic.  They  had, 
for  some  time,  sought  a  prince  who  would  receive  them 
under  his  protection  ;  but  the  laws  of  nations  shut  all  the 
harbours  in  the  world  against  them. 

As  soon  as  they  were  informed  that  Charles  was  returned 
to  Sweden,  they  began  to  hope  that  that  prince,  passionate- 
ly fond  of  war,  forced  to  carry  it  on,  and  in  want  of  both 
ships  and  men,  would  grant  them  favourable  terms  :  they 
accordingly  sent  a  deputy  to  Europe,  on  board  of  a  Dutch 
vessel,  to  make  a  proposal  to  Baron  de  Gortz  to  receive 
them  into  the  port  of  Gottenburgh,  whither  they  offered  to 
repair  immediately  with  sixty  ships  laden  with  riches. 

The  baron  prevailed  upon  the  king  to  agree  to  this  pro- 
position ;  and  the  year  following  two  Swedish  gentlemen, 
one  named  Cromstrom,  and  the  other  Mendal,  were  sent  to 
finish  the  negotiation  with  the  corsairs  of  Madagascar.  But 

22* 


258  HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


a  more  honourable  and  a  more  powerful  support  was  soon 
after  found  in  the  Cardinal  Alberoni,  a  man  of  an  extraor- 
dinary genius,  who  governed  Spain  long  enough  for  his 
own  glory,  but  too  short  a  time  for  the  grandeur  of  that 
kingdom. 

He  entered  with  ardour  into  the  project  of  placing  the 
son  of  James  II.  on  the  throne  of  England.  Nevertheless, 
as  he  was  just  entered  into  the  ministry,  and  had  the  affairs  of 
Spain  to  establish  before  he  could  think  of  throwing  other 
kingdoms  into  confusion,  it  was  not  likely  that  he  would  be 
able  for  many  years  to  set  his  hand  to  this  great  work ;  yet, 
notwithstanding,  in  less  than  two  years  he  changed  the  face 
of  affairs  in  Spain ;  recovered  to  that  kingdom  its  credit  in 
Europe ;  engaged,  as  is  generally  imagined,  the  Turks  to 
attack  the  emperor  of  Germany ;  and  attempted,  at  the  same 
time,  to  take  away  the  regency  of  France  from  the  duke  of 
Orleans,  and  the  crown  of  Great  Britain  from  King  George. 
So  dangerous  is  even  one  man,  when  he  is  absolute  in  a 
powerful  state,  and  possessed  of  courage  and  greatness  of 
souk 

Gortz  having  thus  dispersed  through  the  courts  of  Mus- 
covy and  Spain  the  first  sparks  of  that  flame  which  he  meant 
to  kindle,  went  secretly  to  France,  and  from  thence  to  Hol- 
land, where  he  negotiated  with  many  of  the  pretender's  ad- 
herents. 

He  informed  himself  more  particularly  of  the  force,  num- 
ber, and  disposition  of  the  malcontents  in  England,  and  also 
of  the  money  they  could  furnish,  and  the  troops  they  could 
raise.  The  malcontents  asked  only  the  assistance  of  ten 
thousand  men,  and  represented  the  revolution  as  infallible 
with  the  assistance  of  these  troops. 

Count  de  Gillembourg,  the  Swedish  ambassador  in  Eng- 
land, being  instructed  by  Baron  de  Gortz,  had  several  con- 
ferences at  London  with  the  principal  malcontents :  he  en- 
couraged them,  and  promised  them  every  thing  they  could 
wish  for :  the  pretender's  party  went  so  far  as  to  furnish 
several  considerable  sums  of  money,  which  Gortz  received 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


259 


in  Holland.  He  negotiated  also  about  the  purchase  of  some 
ships,  and  bought  six  in  Brittany,  with  all  kind  of  arms. 

He  then  sent  several  officers  privately  into  France,  and 
among  others,  the  Chevalier  de  Folard,  who,  having  made 
thirty  campaigns  in  the  French  armies  without  any  considera- 
ble addition  to  his  fortune,  had  lately  offered  his  services  to 
the  king  of  Sweden,  not  so  much  from  any  interested  views, 
as  from  a  desire  to  serve  under  a  king  who  had  so  astonish- 
ing a  reputation.  The  Chevalier  de  Folard  hoped  also  to 
prevail  on  that  prince  to  adopt  his  new  ideas  on  the  art  of 
war,  he  having  studied  that  art  all  his  life  as  a  philosopher; 
and  he  has  since  given  to  the  world  his  discoveries  in  his 
commentary  on  Polybius.  His  ideas  were  approved  of  by 
Charles,  who  had  made  war  himself  in  a  manner  entirely 
new,  and  was  never  guided  by  custom  in  any  thing  ;  he  des- 
tined the  Chevalier  de  Folard  for  one  of  the  instruments  he 
was  to  make  use  of  in  his  projected  descent  upon  Scotland. 
That  gentleman  executed  the  secret  orders  of  Baron  de 
Gortz  in  France.  A  great  number  of  French,  and  a  still  greater 
number  of  Irish  officers  engaged  in  this  conspiracy  of  a  new 
kind,  which  was  hatching  at  the  same  time  in  England, 
France,  and  Muscovy,  and  the  branches  of  which  were  se- 
cretly extended  from  one  end  of  Europe  to  the  other. 

These  preparations  were  nothing  to  what  Gortz  intended 
to  do  ;  but  it  was  a  great  thing  to  have  begun.  The  most 
important  point,  and  without  which  nothing  could  succeed, 
was  to  complete  the  peace  between  the  czar  and  Charles. 
There  remained  many  difficulties  to  be  removed.  Baron 
Osterman,  minister  of  state  in  Muscovy,  refused,  at  first,  to 
come  into  de  Gortz's  measures ;  he  being  as  circumspect 
as  the  minister  of  Charles  was  enterprising.  The  one  slow 
and  regular  in  his  politics,  was  for  suffering  every  thing  to 
ripen  ;  while  the  other,  of  an  impatient  spirit,  was  for  reap- 
ing the  harvest  as  soon  as  the  seed  was  sown.  Osterman 
was  afraid  that  the  emperor,  his  master,  dazzled  with  the 
splendour  of  this  enterprise,  would  grant  the  Swedes  a  too 


260 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


advantageous  peace  ;  he,  therefore,  delayed  the  conclusion 
of  it  by  his  obstacles  and  procrastinations. 

Happily  for  Baron  de  Gortz,  the  czar  himself  arrived  in 
Holland  at  the  beginning  of  the  year  1717.  His  design  was 
to  go  from  thence  into  France ;  he  had  not  yet  seen  that 
celebrated  nation,  which,  for  more  than  a  hundred  years, 
has  been  censured,  envied,  and  imitated,  by  all  its  neigh- 
bours ;  he  wanted  to  gratify  there  his  insatiable  curiosity  of 
seeing  and  learning  every  thing,  and,  at  the  same  time,  to 
exercise  his  politics. 

Gortz  had  two  conferences  with  the  emperor  at  the  Hague  ; 
in  which  he  made  greater  progress  than  he  could  have  done 
in  six  months  with  the  plenipotentiaries.  Every  thing  wore 
a  favourable  aspect;  his  mighty  projects  seemed  covered  by 
an  impenetrable  secrecy ;  and  he  flattered  himself  that  Europe 
would  only  know  them  by  their  being  carried  into  execution. 
In  the  mean  time,  he  talked  of  nothing  but  of  peace  at  the 
Hague,  and  openly  declared,  that  he  would  always  consider 
the  king  of  England  as  the  pacifier  of  the  north ;  and  he 
even  pressed,  in  appearance,  the  holding  of  a  congress  at 
Brunswick,  wherein  the  interests  of  Sweden  and  its  enemies 
might  be  amicably  decided. 

The  first  who  discovered  these  intrigues  was  the  duke  of 
Orleans,  regent  of  France,  who  had  spies  in  every  part  of 
Europe.  Men  of  this  description,  whose  profession  it  is  to 
tell  the  secrets  of  their  friends,  who  subsist  by  informa- 
tions, and  frequently  even  by  calumnies,  were  so  much  in- 
creased in  France  under  his  government,  that  one  half  of  the 
nation  were  become  spies  on  the  other.  The  duke  of  Or- 
leans, connected  with  the  king  of  England  by  personal  en- 
gagements, discovered  to  him  the  plot  that  was  hatching 
against  him. 

At  the  same  time,  the  Dutch,  who  took  umbrage  at  the 
behaviour  of  de  Gortz,  communicated  their  suspicions  to 
the  English  minister.  Gortz  and  Gillembourg  were  prose- 
cuting their  schemes  with  great  vigour,  when  they  were 


KING  OF  SWEDEN.  261 

both  arrested,  the  one  at  Deventeer  in  Guelderland,  and  the 
other  at  London. 

Gillembourg,  the  Swedish  ambassador,  had  violated  the 
law  of  nations,  by  conspiring  against  the  prince  to  whom  he 
was  delegated,  and  no  scruple  was  entertained  of  violating 
the  same  law  by  arresting  his  person.  But  all  the  world 
was  astonished  to  see  the  States  General,  through  an  unheard 
of  complaisance  toward  the  king  of  England,  imprison  Ba- 
ron de  Gortz.  They  even  appointed  the  Count  de  Welde- 
ren  to  examine  him.  This  formality  was  only  an  aggravation 
of  their  insult,  which,  rendered  useless,  turned  out  to  their 
own  confusion.  Gortz  asked  the  Count  de  Welderen  if  he 
knew  him  ?  "Yes,  sir,"  replied  the  Dutchman.  "Well, 
then,"  replied  de  Gortz,  "  if  you  do  know  me,  you  know 
also  that  I  answer  to  nothing  but  what  I  please."  The 
examination  was  scarcely  pushed  any  further.  All  the 
ambassadors,  but  particularly  the  Marquis  de  Monte- 
leon,  the  Spanish  ambassador,  protested  against  the  outrage 
offered  to  the  persons  of  Gortz  and  Gillembourg.  The 
Dutch  were  without  excuse.  They  had  not  only  violated  a 
most  sacred  law  by  seizing  the  prime  minister  of  the  king 
of  Sweden,  who  had  formed  no  plots  against  them,  but  they 
acted  directly  against  the  principles  of  that  liberty  which  had 
drawn  so  many  foreigners  into  their  country,  and  which  had 
been  the  foundation  of  all  their  greatness. 

With  regard  to  the  king  of  England,  he  had  committed 
no  breach  of  justice  in  imprisoning  his  enemy.  He  pub- 
lished in  his  own  vindication  the  letters  of  Baron  de  Gortz 
and  Count  Gillembourg,  which  were  found  among  the  pa- 
pers of  the  latter.  The  king  of  Sweden  was  in  Scania  at 
the  time  when  he  received  these  printed  letters,  together 
with  the  news  of  his  two  ministers  being  imprisoned.  He 
asked,  with  a  smile,  "  if  they  had  printed  his  letters  also  ?" 
He  immediately  gave  orders  for  arresting  the  English  resi- 
dent at  Stockholm,  with  all  his  family  and  domestics.  He 
forbade  the  Dutch  resident  the  court,  and  took  care  to  have 
him  strictly  watched,    Meanwhile,  he  neither  avowed  nor 


262 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


disavowed  the  proceedings  of  de  Gortz  ;  being  too  proud  to 
deny  a  scheme  which  he  had  once  approved,  and  too  wise 
to  acknowledge  a  plot  which  had  been  stilled  almost  in  its 
birth ;  he  therefore  maintained  a  disdainful  silence  toward 
England  and  Holland. 

The  czar  took  a  different  course.    As  he  was  not  named, 
but  only  obscurely  hinted  at  in  the  papers  of  Gortz  and  Gil- 
lembourg,  he  wrote  a  long  letter  to  the  king  of  England,  full 
of  compliments  on  the  discovery  of  the  conspiracy,  and  as- 
surance of  a  sincere  friendship.    King  George  received  his 
protestations  without  believing  them,  and  pretended  to  be 
deceived  by  them.    A  conspiracy  formed  by  private  men,  is 
annihilated  the  moment  it  is  discovered ;  but  a  conspiracy 
formed  by  king's,  only  gains  strength  by  its  being  known. 
The  czar  arrived  at  Paris  in  the  month  of  May,  in  the  same 
year.    He  did  not  totally  employ  himself  in  viewing  the 
beauties  of  art  and  nature,  in  visiting  the  academies,  the 
public  libraries,  the  cabinets  of  the  curious,  and  the  royal 
palaces  ;  he  proposed  a  treaty  to  the  duke  of  Orleans,  regent 
of  France,  the  acceptation  of  which  would  have  completed 
the  grandeur  of  Muscovyi    His  design  was  to  unite  himself 
with  the  king  of  Sweden,  who  would  yield  to  him  several 
large  provinces;  to  entirely  deprive  the  Danes  of  the  empire 
of  the  Baltic  Sea;  to  weaken  the  English  by  a  civil  war, 
and  to  draw  all  the  trade  of  the  north  to  Russia.    He  had 
even  some  thoughts  of  setting  up  Stanislaus  afresh  against 
Augustus,  so  that  the  fire  being  kindled  on  every  side,  he 
might  have  -it  in  his  power  either  to  quench  or  blow  it  up, 
as  he  should  find  best  conducive  to  his  interest.    With  this 
view,  he  proposed  to  the  regent  of  France  to  act  as  a  mediator 
between  Sweden  and  Muscovy,  and  to  make  a  league  offen- 
sive and  defensive  with  those  two  crowns,  and  that  of  Spain. 
This  treaty,  which  appeared  so  natural,  and  so  advantageous 
to  the  several  nations  concerned,  and  which  placed  the  ba- 
lance of  power  in  Europe  in  their  hands,  was  not  accepted 
by  the  duke  of  Orleans.    He,  at  that  very  time,  entered  into 
engagements  of  a  quite  contrary  uature ;  he  made  a  league 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


263 


with  the  emperor  of  Germany,  and  with  George,  king  of  En- 
gland. Reasons  of  state  had  now  so  altered  the  views  of 
all  the  princes  of  Europe,  that  the  czar  was  ready  to  declare 
against  his  old  ally  Augustus,  and  to  espouse  the  cause  of 
Charles,  his  mortal  enemy;  while  France,  to  oblige  the  Ger- 
mans and  the  English,  was  going  to  make  war  upon  the 
grandson  of  Louis  XIV.,  after  having  so  long  supported  him 
against  these  very  enemies,  at  the  expense  of  so  much  blood 
and  treasure.  All  that  the  czar  obtained  by  indirect  mea- 
sures, was  the  prevailing  upon  the  regent  to  interpose  his 
good  offices  to  procure  the  enlargement  of  Gortz  and  Gillem- 
bourg.  He  returned  to  his  own  dominions  about  the  end  of 
June,  after  having  shown  the  French  the  uncommon  sight  of 
an  emperor  travelling  for  instruction ;  but  the  generality  of 
that  people  only  took  notice  of  his  rude,  unpolished  manners, 
the  result  of  his  bad  education ;  while  the  legislator,  the 
hero,  and  the  creator  of  a  new  nation,  entirely  escaped  their 
observation. 

What  the  czar  sought  for  in  the  duke  of  Orleans,  he  soon 
found  in  Cardinal  Alberoni,  now  become  all  powerful  in 
Spain.  Alberoni  wished  for  nothing  so  much  as  the  resto- 
ration of  the  pretender ;  not  only  as  minister  of  Spain,  which 
had  been  so  ill  treated  by  the  English,  but  as  a  personal 
enemy  to  the  duke  of  Orleans,  who  was  leagued  with  Eng- 
land against  Spain  ;  and  lastly,  as  a  priest  of  that  church  for 
the  sake  of  which  the  pretender's  father  had  so  imprudently 
lost  his  crown. 

The  duke  of  Ormond,  as  much  beloved  in  England  as  the 
duke  of  Marlborough  was  admired,  had  left  his  country  at  the 
accession  of  King  George,  and  was  at  that  time  retired  to 
Madrid.  He  went  from  thence,  invested  with  full  powers 
by  the  king  of  Spain  and  the  pretender,  together  with  one 
Jerningham,  another  native  of  England,  a  man  of  fine  address 
and  an  enterprising  spirit,  to  meet  the  czar  in  his  way  to 
Mittau  in  Courland.  He  demanded  the  Princess  Anna  Pe- 
trowna,  the  czar's  daughter,  in  marriage  for  the  son  of  James 


264 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


II.*  hoping  that  this  alliance  would  more  strongly  attach  the 
czar  to  the  interests  of  that  unhappy  prince.  But  this  pro- 
posal, instead  of  forwarding,  had  nearly  retarded,  for  a  time, 
the  progress  of  the  negotiations.  Baron  de  Gortz,  among 
his  other  projects,  had  long  destined  this  princess  for  the 
duke  of  Holstein,  to  whom,  in  effect,  she  was  soon  after 
married.  As  soon  as  he  was  informed  of  the  duke  of  Or- 
mond's  proposal,  he  became  jealous  of  its  success,  and  ap- 
plied every  art  to  set  it  aside.  He,  as  well  as  Count  Gil- 
lembourg,  was  set  at  liberty  in  the  month  of  August;  the 
king  of  Sweden  not  even  deigning  to  make  the  least  excuse 
to  the  king  of  England,  nor  to  show  the  slightest  disappro- 
bation of  his  minister's  conduct. 

At  the  same  time  the  English  resident  and  all  his  family 
were  released  at  Stockholm,  where  they  had  been  treated 
with  much  more  severity  than  Gillembourgh  had  been  at 
London. 

Gortz  having  obtained  his  freedom,  behaved  like  an  im- 
placable enemy,  having  the  spirit  of  revenge  joined  to  the 
powerful  motives  by  which  he  had  been  formerly  actuated. 
He  went  post  to  the  czar,  and,  by  his  artful  insinuations,  ob- 
tained a  greater  ascendancy  over  that  prince  than  ever.  He 
assured  him  directly  that  in  less  than  three  months  he  would, 
in  conjunction  with  a  single  plenipotentiary  from  Russia,  re- 
move every  obstacle  that  retarded  the  conclusion  of  a  peace 
with  Sweden  ;  and  taking  a  map  in  his  hand  which  had  been 
drawn  by  the  czar  himself,  he  drew  a  line  from  Wiburg  all 
the  way  to  the  Frozen  Sea,  running  along  the  Lake  Ladoga, 
and  undertook  to  persuade  his  master  to  give  up  all  the  coun- 
try lying  to  the  eastward  of  that  line,  as  well  as  Carelia,  In- 

*  The  Cardinal  Alberoni  confirms  the  truth  of  all  these  particulars  in 
a  letter  of  thanks  to  the  author.  M.  Norberg,  whose  ignorance  of  the  af- 
fairs of  Europe  can  only  be  equalled  by  the  poverty  of  his  genius,  alleges, 
that  the  duke  of  Ormond  did  not  quit  England  upon  the  accession  of 
George  I.,  but  immediately  after  the  death  of  Queen  Anne  ;  as  if  George 
I.  had  not  been  the  immediate  successor  of  that  queen. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


265 


gria,  and  Livonia ;  after  that  he  threw  out  propositions  for  a 
marriage  between  his  czarish  majesty's  daughter  and  the 
duke  of  Holstein,  flattering  the  czar  that  the  duke  might  be 
prevailed  upon  to  yield  up  his  dominions  for  an  equivalent, 
by  which  means  he  would  become  a  member  of  the  empire, 
showing  him  afar  off  the  imperial  crown,  whether  it  were 
to  be  worn  by  himself  or  by  one  of  his  descendants.  He 
thus  flattered  the  ambitious  views  of  the  Russian  monarch, 
and' prevented  the  pretender  from  marrying  the  czarian  prin- 
cess, while  he  opened  to  him  the  road  into  England,  and 
accomplished  all  his  own  projects  at  once. 

The  czar  named  the  Isle  of  Alan  for  holding  a  con- 
ference between  Osterman,  his  minister  •  of  state,  and 
Baron  de  Gortz.  The  duke  of  Ormond  was  desired  to  re- 
turn to  Spain,  that  the  czar  might  not  give  too  great  cause  of 
offence  to  the  English,  to  whom  he  had  no  intention  of 
giving  umbrage  till  he  should  be  ready  to  make  the  pro- 
jected invasion  ;  Jerningham,  the  duke's  confidant,  who  was 
properly  instructed,  was  allowed  to  stay  at  Petersburgh, 
where  he  lived  with  so  much  precaution,  that  he  never  went 
abroad  but  in  the  night  time,  nor  ever  conversed  with  any 
of  the  czar's  ministers,  except  in  the  disguise  of  a  peasant 
or  Tartar. 

As  soon  as  the  duke  of  Ormond  departed,  the  czar  ac- 
quainted the  king  of  England  with  the  high  compliment  he 
had  paid  him  in  dismissing  the  greatest  man  in  the  preten- 
der's faction ;  and  Baron  de  Gortz,  full  of  hope,  returned  to 
Sweden. 

He  found  his  master  at  the  head  of  thirty-five  thousand 
regular  troops,  and  all  the  coasts  lined  with  the  militia.  The 
king  wanted  nothing  but  money ;  credit,  as  well  at  home  as 
abroad,  being  entirely  exhausted.  France,  which  had  fur- 
nished him  with  some  supplies  during  the  last  years  of  Louis 
XIV.  refused  to  contribute  any  more  under  the  regency  of 
the  duke  of  Orleans,  who  was  governed  by  quite  contrary 
maxims.  Spain  promised  him  some  remittances ;  but  was 
not  as  yet  able  to  furnish  much.    De  Gortz  at  this  time  put 

23 


266 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


into  execution,  in  its  full  extent,  a  scheme  which  he  former- 
ly tried  before  his  journey  to  France  and  Holland ;  this  was, 
to  give  to  copper  the  value  of  silver;  so  that  a  piece  of  cop- 
per whose  intrinsic  value  was  only  a  half-penny,  should, 
when  stamped  with  the  king's  mark,  pass  for  forty  pence ; 
in  the  same  manner  as  the  governors  of  besieged  towns  fre- 
quently pay  the  soldiers  and  citizens  in  leather  money,  in 
hopes  of  being  one  day  able  to  reimburse  them  in  real  coin. 
This  fictitious  kind  of  money,  invented  by  necessity,  and  to 
which  nothing  can  give  a  durable  credit  but  the  good  faith 
of  government,  resembles  bills  of  exchange,  the  imaginary 
value  of  which  may  easily  exceed  the  real  funds  of  a  state. 

These  resources  are  of  great  use  in  a  free  country  ;  they 
have  sometimes  saved  a  republic,  but  almost  certainly  ruin  a 
monarchy ;  for  the  people  soon  tiring  of  confidence,"  the 
minister  is  reduced  to  break  his  faith;  this  ideal  coin  is  mul- 
tiplied to  excess;  and  individuals  bury  the  specie  they  pos- 
sess, and  the  whole  machine  is  dsstioyed,  with  a  confusion 
which  is  often  accompanied  by  the  greatest  disasters.  This 
was  what  happened  to  the  kingdom  of  Sweden. 

Baron  de  Gortz  at  first  issued  out  his  new  coin  with  dis- 
cretion ;  but,  by  the  rapidity  of  the  movement  which  he 
could  no  longer  govern,  he  was  in  a  little  time  hurried  be- 
yond the  limits  which  he  had  originally  prescribed.  All 
kinds  of  merchandize  and  provisions  having  risen  to  an  im- 
moderate price,  he  was  obliged  to  increase  the  quantity  01 
the  copper  coin.  But  the  more  it  was  increased,  the  less 
was  its  value ;  at  last,  Sweden,  overrun  by  this  false  money, 
set  up  a  general  cry  against  de  Gortz.  The  people,  who  had 
always  beheld  their  sovereign  with  veneration,  could  not 
find  in  their  hearts  to  hate  him,  and  therefore  made  the 
weight  of  their  resentment  fall  on  a  minister,  who,  as  he  was 
a  foreigner,  and  chief  director  of  the  finances,  was  doubly 
certain  of  the  public  hatred. 

A  tax  which  he  wanted  to  lay  on  the  clergy,  rendered  him 
totally  detestable  to  the  nation  ;  the  priests,  who  too  often 
join  their  own  cause  to  that  of  Heaven,  publicly  pronounced 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


267 


him  an  atheist,  because  he  demanded  their  money.  Some 
of  the  new  coin  being  stamped  with  the  figures  of  the  hea- 
then gods,  they  took  this  occasion  to  call  those  pieces  le 
Dieux  du  Baron  de  Gortz,  the  Gods  of  Baron  de  Gortz. 

To  this  public  hatred  were  joined  the  jealousies  of  the 
ministers ;  the  more  implacable,  as  they  were  at  that  time 
without  power  to  affect  him.  The  king's  sister,  and  the 
prince  her  husband,  feared  hiin  as  a  man  attached  by  his 
birth  to  the  duke  of  Holstem,  and  who  might  one  day  be 
able  to  place  the  crown  of  Sweden  on  his  head.  He  gained 
no  one's  affections  in  the  kingdom  but  Charles's ;  yet  this 
general  aversion  served  only  to  confirm  the  friendship  of  the 
king,  whose  opinions  were  always  strengthened  by  contra- 
dictions. He  now  placed  a  confidence  in  the  baron  border- 
ing on  submission ;  he  gave  him  an  absolute  power  in  the 
interior  government  of  the  kingdom ;  and  committed  to  his 
care,  without  the  least  reserve,  whatever  related  to  the  ne- 
gotiations with  the  czar,  recommending  to  him,  above  all 
things,  to  hasten  the  conferences  that  were  to  be  held  in  the 
Isle  of  Alan. 

In  effect,  Gortz  had  no  sooner  finished  the  arrangement 
of  the  finances  at  Stockholm  which  demanded  his  presence, 
than  he  set  out  to  conclude  with  the  czar's  minister  the  grand 
scheme  he  had  projected. 

The  following  are  the  preliminary  conditions  of  that  alli- 
ance, which  was  wholly  to  have  changed  the  face  of  affairs 
in  Europe ;  they  were  found  among  de  Gortz's  papers  after 
his  death. 

The  czar  was  to  keep  the  whole  of  Livonia  and  part  of 
Ingria  and  Carelia,  and  to  restore  the  rest  to  Sweden;  he 
was  to  join  Charles  XII.  in  the  design  to  re-establish  Stanis- 
laus on  the  throne  of  Poland,  and  was  to  engage  to  enter 
that  country  with  eighty  thousand  Russians  to  dethrone  Au- 
gustus, the  very  king  in  whose  defence  he  had  waged  a  war 
of  ten  years'  continuance.  He  was  also  to  furnish  the  king 
of  Sweden  with  a  sufficient  number  of  ships  to  transport  ten 
thousand  Swedes  to  England,  and  thirty  thousand  to  Ger 


268  HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


many.  The  united  forces  of  Peter  and  Charles  were  to  at- 
tack the  king  of  England  in  his  states  of  Hanover,  and  par- 
ticularly in  Bremen  and  Verdun ;  the  same  troops  would 
have  served  to  restore  the  duke  of  Holstein,  and  compelled 
the  king  of  Prussia  to  accept  a  treaty  by  which  he  would 
have  been  deprived  of  part  of  those  territories  which  he  had 
formerly  taken. 

From  this  time  Charles  assumed  as  lofty  airs  as  if  his  vic- 
torious troops,  reinforced  by  those  of  the  czar,  had  already 
executed  every  thing  they  intended.  He  haughtily  de- 
manded of  the  emperor  of  Germany  to  conclude  the  treaty 
of  Altranstad.  The  court  of  Vienna  scarcely  deigned  to  give 
an  answer  to  the  proposal  of  a  prince  from  whom  she  thought 
she  had  nothing  to  fear. 

The  king  of  Poland  did  not  possess  so  much  confidence  : 
he  saw  the  clouds  gathering  on  every  side.  The  Polish  no- 
bility had  formed  a  confederacy  against  him  ;  and  since  his 
jestoration  he  had  continually  been  engaged  eithe*r  in  wars 
or  treaties  with  his  subjects.  The  czar,  a  dangerous  media- 
tor, had  a  hundred  gallies  near  Dantzic,  and  forty  thousand 
men  on'the  frontiers  of  Poland.  All  the  North  was  filled 
with  jealousy  and  apprehension.  Fleming,  the  most  dis- 
trustful of  men,  and  himself  the  most  to  be  distrusted  by 
the  neighbouring  powers,  was  the  first  who  suspected  the  de- 
signs of  the  czar  and  the  king  of  Sweden  in  favour  of  Stanis- 
laus. He  determined,  therefore,  to  have  him  seized  in  the 
fluchy  of  Deux  Points,  as  James  Sobiesky  had  formerly 
been  in  Silesia.  A  Frenchman,  one  of  those  restless  and 
enterprising  spirits  who  wander  into  foreign  parts  to  try 
their  fortunes,  had  lately  brought  a  small  number  of  his 
countrymen,  bold  and  daring,  like  himself,  into  the  service 
of  the  king  of  Poland.  He  communicated  a  project  to  Fle- 
ming, by  which  he  engaged,  with  thirty  French  officers,  to 
seize  Stanislaus  in  his  own  palace,  and  carry  him  a  prisoner 
to  Dresden.  The  project  was  approved.  Such  enterprises 
were  then  very  common.  Some  of  those  fellows  who  are 
called  bravoes  in  Italy,  had  performed  similar  acts  in  the 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


\ 

269 


Milanese  during  the  last  war  between  France  and  Germany. 
After  that  time,  several  French  refugees  in  Holland  had  ven- 
tured to  penetrate  as  far  as  Versailles,  in  order  to  carry  off 
fhe  dauphin ;  and  had  actually  seized  the  person  of  the  first 
equerry,  almost  under  the  windows  of  the  castle  where  Louis 
XIV.  resided. 

Saissan  prepared  his  men  and  relays  of  post-horses  in  or- 
der to  seize  and  carry  off  Stanislaus.  The  enterprise  was 
discovered  the  night  before  it  was  to  have  been  carried  into 
execution.  Several  of  them  made  their  escape,  and  the  rest 
were  taken  prisoners.  They  had  no  right  to  expect  to  be 
treated  as  prisoners  of  war,  but  rather  as  a  banditti.  Stanis- 
laus, however,  instead  of  punishing  them,  contented  himself 
with  reproaching  them  with  their  baseness,  and  even  that 
he  did  in  terms  replete  with  humanity;  he  even  gave  them 
money  to  conduct  them  back  to  Poland,  and  by  this  gene- 
rous behaviour  plainly  showed  that  his  rival  Augustus  had 
but  too  much  reason  to  fear  him.* 

In  the  mean  time,  Charles  departed  a  second  time  for  the 
conquest  of  Norway,  in  the  month  of  October,  1718.  He 
had  so  well  taken  all  his  measures,  that  he  hoped  in  six 
months  time  to  make  himself  master  of  that  kingdom.  He 
rather  chose  to  go  and  conquer  rocks  amidst  ice  and  snow, 
in  the  depth  of  winter,  which  kills  the  animals  even  in 
Sweden,  where  the  air  is  less  cold,  than  to  retake  his  beauti- 
ful provinces  in  Germany  from  the  hands  of  his  enemies. 
These  he  expected  he  should  soon  be  able  to  recover  in  con- 
sequence of  his  alliance  with  the  czar ;  and  his  vanity,  be- 
sides, was  more  flattered  at  ravishing  a  kingdom  from  bis 
victorious  enemy. 

At  the  mouth  of  the  river  Tistendall,  near  the  channel  of 
Denmark,  and  between  the  towns  of  Bahus  and  Anslo  stands 
Frederickshall,  a  place  of  great  strength  and  importance, 
and  considered  as  the  key  of  the  kingdom.    Charles  formed 

*  Here  M.  Norberg  accuses  the  author  of  want  of  respect  to  crowned 
heads  ;  as  if  this  faithful  account  contained  in  it  any  thing  injurious,  or 
as  if  we  were  obliged  to  relate  aught  but  truth  of  departed  kings. 

23* 


270 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


the  siege  of  this  place  in  the  month  of  December.  The 
soldiers,  benumbed  with  cold,  could  scarcely  turn  up  the 
earth,  which  was  so  much  hardened  by  the  frost,  that  it  was 
almost  as  difficult  to  pierce  it  as  if  they  had  been  opening 
trenches  in  a  rock ;  yet  the  Swedes  could  not  be  dishearten- 
ed, while  they  saw  their  king  at  their  head,  who  partook  of 
all  their  fatigues.  Charles  had  never  before  undergone  so 
many  hardships.  His  constitution,  hardened  by  eighteen 
years  of  severe  labours,  was  fortified  to  such  a  degree,  that 
he  slept  in  the  open  field  in  Norway  in  the  midst  of  winter, 
either  on  a  truss  of  straw  or  a  plank,  covered  only  with  a 
cloak,  without  the  least  prejudice  to  his  health. 

Several  of  the  soldiers  dropped  down  dead  at  their  posts, 
and  the  rest  were  almost  frozen  to  death ;  yet  as  they 
saw  their  king  suffering  like  themselves,  they  did  not  dare 
to  make  the  least  complaint.  Having  heard,  some  time  be- 
fore this  expedition,  of  a  certain  woman  in  Scania,  called 
Joan  Dotter,  who  had  lived  for  several  months  without  ta- 
king any  other  nourishment  than  water ;  he,  who  had  studied 
all  his  life  to  support  the  most  extreme  rigours  that  human 
nature  could  bear,  resolved  to  try  how  long  he  could  fast 
without  being  worn  out.  He  passed  five  whole  days  with- 
out eating  or  drinking ;  and  on  the  morning  of  the  sixth 
rode  two  leagues,  and  then  alighted  at  the  tent  of  the  prince 
of  Hesse,  his  brother-in-law,  where  he  eat  heartily,  without 
feeling  the  least  inconvenience  from  his  abstinence  of  five 
days,  or  from  the  plentiful  meal  which  immediately  succeed- 
ed'.* 

With  this  body  of  iron,  governed  by  a  soul  so  enterprising 
and  inflexible  in  every  situation  he  was  reduced  to,  he  could 
not  fail  to  be  formidable  to  all  his  neighbours. 

On  the  11th  of  December,  being  St.  Andrew's  day,  he  went 
at  nine  in  the  evening  to  visit  the  trenches  ;  and  not  finding 
the  parallel  so  far  advanced  as  he  expected,  appeared  very 

*  Norberg  pretends,  that  it  was  to  cure  a  pain  in  his  breast,  that 
Charles  tried  this  strange  abstinence.  Confessor  Norberg  is  surely  a  bad 
physician 


KING  OF  SWEDEN.  271 


much  displeased.  M.  Megret,  a  French  engineer,  who  con- 
ducted the  siege,  assured  him  that  the  place  could  be  taken 
in  eight  days.  u  We  shall  see,"  said  the  king,  and  went  on 
with  the  engineer  to  survey  the  works.  He  stopped  at  a 
place  where  a  branch  of  the  trenches  formed  an  angle  with 
the  parallel ;  and  kneeling  on  the  inner  talus,  and  resting 
his  elbow  on  the  parapet,  continued  in  that  posture  for  some 
time,  to  view  the  men,  who  were  carrying  on  the  trenches 
by  star-light. 

The  least  circumstances  become  important,  when  they 
relate  to  the  death  of  such  a  man  as  Charles  XII.  I  must, 
therefore,  say,  that  the  whole  of  the  conversation  reported 
by  so  many  writers  to  have  passed  between  the  king  and 
Megret,  the  engineer,  is  absolutely  false.  This  is  what  I 
know  to  be  the  real  truth  of  the  matter. 

Almost  half  of  the  king's  body  was  exposed  to  a  battery 
of  cannon,  pointed  directly  against  the  angle  where  he  was : 
there  was  no  one  near  his  person  at  this  time  but  two  French- 
men ;  one  of  whom  was  M.  Siquier,  his  aid-de-camp,  a  man  of 
courage  and  conduct,  who  had  entered  into  his  service  in 
Turkey,  and  who  was  particularly  attached  to  the  prince  of 
Hesse ;  and  the  other  was  this  engineer.  The  cannon  fired 
upon  them,  but  the  king,  being  the  least  covered  by  the 
parapet,  was  the  most  exposed.  At  some  distance  behind 
them  was  Count  Swerin,  who  commanded  in  the  trenches. 
Count  Posse,  a  captain  of  the  guards,  and  an  aid-de-camp 
named  Kulbert,  were  receiving  orders  from  him.  Siquier 
and  Megret  saw  the  king  me  moment  he  fell,  which  he  did 
upon  the  parapet,  with  a  deep  sigh.  They  immediately  ran 
to  him  :  he  was  already  dead.  A  ball  of  half  a  pound  weight 
had  struck  him  on  the  right  temple,  and  made  a  hole  suffi- 
cient to  receive  three  fingers  at  once ;  his  head  was  reclined 
on  the  parapet,  his  left  eye  beat  in,  and  the  right  one  entirely 
out  of  its  socket.  The  instant  of  his  wound  had  been  that 
of  his  death  ;  but  he  had  had  the  force,  whilst  expiring  in  so 
sudden  a  manner,  to  place  by  a  natural  movement  his  hand 
upon  the  hilt  of  his  sword,  and  he  remained  in  that  attitude. 


272 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


At  the  sight  of  this  spectacle,  Megret,  a  man  of  peculiar  and 
callous  disposition,  said  nothing  but  these  words,  "  There  ! 
the  play  is  over,  let  us  be  gone."  Siquier  ran  immediate- 
ly to  inform  CounFSwerin.  They  all  agreed  to  conceal  the 
news  of  his  death  from  the  soldiers,  till  they  could  acquaint 
the  prince  of  Hesse  with  it.  They  wrapt  up  the  body  in  a 
gray  cloak.  Siquier  put  his  hat  and  wig  on  the  king's  head ; 
and  in  this  condition  they  carried  Charles,  under  the  name 
of  one  Captain  Carlberg,  through  the  midst  of  his  troops, 
who  saw  their  dead  king  pass  them,  without  ever  dreaming 
it  was  him. 

The  prince  instantly  gave  orders  that  no  one  should  go 
out  of  the  camp,  and  that  all  the  passes  to  Sweden  should 
be  strictly  guarded,  that  he  might  have  time  to  take  the 
necessary  measures  for  placing  the  crown  on  his  wife's 
head,  and  excluding  the  duke  of  Holstein,  who  might  lay 
claim  to  it. 

Thus  fell  Charles  XII.  king  of  Sweden,  at  the  age  of  thir- 
ty-six years  and  a  half,  after  having  experienced  whatever 
is  most  brilliant  in  prosperity,  and  all  that  is  most  poignant 
in  adversity,  without  having  been  enervated  by  the  one,  or 
having  wavered,  though  but  for  a-moment,  with  the  other. 
Almost  all  his  actions,  even  those  of  his  private  life,  bor- 
dered on  the  marvellous.  He  is  perhaps  the  only  one  of  all 
mankind,  and  hitherto  the  only  one  among  kings,  who  has 
lived  without  a  single  frailty.  He  carried  all  the  virtues  of 
heroes  to  an  excess,  at  which  they  are  as  dangerous  as  their 
opposite  vices.  His  resolution,  hardened  into  obstinacy, 
occasioned  his  misfortunes  in  the  Ukraine,  and  detained  him 
five  years  in  Turkey ;  his  liberality,  degenerating  into  pro- 
fusion, ruined  Sweden  ;  his  courage,  extending  even  to  rash- 
ness, was  the  cause  of  his  death ;  his  justice  has  sometimes 
extended  to  cruelty ;  and  during  the  last  years  of  his  reign, 
the  means  he  employed  to  support  his  authority  differed  little 
from  tyfatifty.  His  great  qualities,  any  one  of  which  would 
Have  been  sufficient  to  have  immortalized  another  prince, 
proved  the  misfortune  of  his  country.    He  never  was  the 


KING  OF  SWEDEN 


273 


aggressor ;  yet  in  taking  vengeance  he  was  more  implacable 
than  prudent.  He  was  the  first  man  who  ever  aspired  to 
the  title  of  conqueror,  without  the  least  desire  of  enlarging 
his  own  dominions ;  and  whose  only  end  in  subduing  king- 
doms, was  to  have  the  pleasure  of  giving  them  away.  His 
passion  for  glory,  for  war,  and  revenge,  prevented  Kim  from 
being  a  good  politician ;  a  quality  without  which  the  world 
had  never  before  seen  any  one  a  conqueror.  Before  a  bat- 
tle, and  after  a  victory,  he  was  modest  and  humble ;  and 
after  a  defeat,  firm  and  undaunted ;  inflexible  toward  others 
as  well  as  toward  himself,  rating  at  nothing  the  fatigues 
and  lives  of  his  subjects  any  more  than  his  own ;  rather  an 
extraordinary  than  a  great  man,  and  more  worthy  to  be  ad- 
mired than  imitated.  His  life  ought  to  be  a  lesson  to  kings, 
how  much  a  pacific  and  happy  government  is  preferable  to 
so  much  glory. 

Charles  XII.  was  of  a  tall  stature,  with  a  noble  air;  he 
had  a  fine  forehead,  large  blue  eyes,  full  of  sweetness,  and 
a  handsome  nose ;  but  the  lower  part  of  his  face  was  disa- 
greeable, and  too  often  disfigured  by  a  frequent  laugh,  at 
which  time  he  scarce  opened  his  lips ;  and  he  had  scarce 
any  beard  or  hair.  He  spoke  very  little,  and  frequently  only 
answered  people  with  that  laugh  which  was  habitual  to  him. 
With  the  inflexible  obstinacy  of  his  temper,  he  always  re- 
tained that  timidity  which  goes  by  the  name  of  false  modes- 
ty. He  would  have  been  embarrassed  in  a  conversation,  be- 
cause, having  given  up  his  time  entirely  to  war  and  action, 
he  had  no  knowledge  of  society.  Till  the  time  of  his  resi- 
dence among  the  Turks,  which  furnished  him  with  a  good 
deal  of  leisure,  he  had  read  nothing  but  Caesar's  Commen- 
taries and  the  History  of  Alexander ;  yet  he  had  written 
some  reflections  on  the.  art  of  war,  and  particularly  on  his 
own  campaigns  from  1700  to  1709.  This  he  owned  to  the 
CheValier  de  Folard,  but  said  that  the  manuscript  had  been 
lost  in  the  unfortunate  battle  of  Pultowa.  Some  people 
would  describe  Charles  as  a  good  mathematician^  he  pos- 
sessed, no  doubt,  a  great  degree  of  penetration,  but  the  ar- 


274 


HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


guments  they  make  use  of  to  prove  his  knowledge  in  mathe- 
matics, are  by  no  means  conclusive;  he  wanted  to  alter  the 
method  of  counting  by  tens,  and  proposed  td  substitute  in  its 
place  the  number  64,  because  that  number  contains  both  a 
cube  and  a  square,  and  being  divided  by  two  is  reducible  to  a 
unit.  This  only  proves  that  he  delighted  in  every  thing  ex- 
traordinary and  difficult. 

With  regard  to  his  religion,  though  the  sentiments  of  a 
prince  ought  to  have  no  influence  on  other  men,  and  though 
the  opinion  of  a  monarch  so  illiterate  as  Charles  can  be  of 
little  consequence  in  these  matters,  yet  it  is  necessary  to  gra- 
tify, in  this  as  well  as  in  every  other  particular,  the  curio- 
sity of  mankind,  who  arc  anxious  to  know  whatever  relates 
to  this  prince.  I  am  informed  by  the  gentleman  who  fur- 
nished me  with  the  greatest  part  of  the  materials  which  com- 
pose this  history,  that  Charles  was  a  serious  Lutheran  until 
the  year  1707.  He  then  happened  to  see  at  Leipsic  the  fa- 
mous philosopher,  M.  Leibnitz,  who  thought  and  spoke  free- 
ly, and  had  already  instilled  his  sentiments  into  more  princes 
than  one.  I  cannot  believe,  as  it  is  reported,  that  Charles 
conceived  an  indifference  for  Lutheranism  from  the  conver- 
sation of  this  philosopher,  who  never  had  the  honour  to  talk 
with  him  above  a  quarter  of  an  hour ;  but  M.  Fabricius,  who 
lived  with  him  in  great  familiarity  for  seven  years  successive- 
ly, told  me,  Charles  having  seen,  during  his  residence  among 
the  Turks,  such  an  infinite  variety  of  religions,  his  indiffer- 
ence became  greater.  La  Mottray,  in  his  voyages,  confirms 
this  idea.  The  same,  too,  is  the  opinion  of  the  Count  de 
Croissy,  who  hath  several  times  told  me,  that  of  all  his  old 
principles,  Charles  retained  none  but  that  of  absolute  pre- 
destination, a  doctrine  that  favoured  his  courage,  and  justifi- 
ed his  temerity.  The  czar  held  the  same  opinion  with  re- 
gard to  fate  and  religion  ;  but  talked  of  these  subjects  more 
frequently,  as  indeed  he  did  of  every  thing  else  with  his  fa- 
vourites, with  much  familiarity;  for  he  had  the  advantage 
over  Charles,  both  in  the  study  of  philosophy  and  the  gift  of 
eloquence. 


KING  OF  SWEDEN. 


275 


Here  I  cannot  help  taking  notice  of  a  calumny  that  is  too 
often  raised  at  the  death  of  princes  by  the  malicious,  and  too 
readily  believed  by  the  credulous,  that  their  death  is  always 
owing  to  poison  or  assassination.  A  report  had  spread 
through  Germany,  that  M.  Siquier  himself  had  killed  the 
king  of  Sweden.  That  brave  officer  was  long  grieved  at 
this  injurious  aspersion;  and  one  day  talking  to  me  on  the 
subject,  used  the  following  expression  :  "  I  might  have  kill- 
ed the  king  of  Sweden,  but  such  was  my  respect  for  that 
hero,  that  had  I  conceived  the  thought,  I  could  not  have  had 
the  courage  to  carry  it  into  execution." 

I  know  very  well  that  Siquier  himself  gave  occasion  for 
this  heavy  accusation,  which,  even  to  this  day,  is  believed  by 
a  part  of  Sweden  ;  he  told  me  that  during  a  raging  fever  at 
Stockholm,  he  had  cried  out  that  he  had  killed  the  king  of 
Sweden  ;  and  that  in  the  height  of  his  frenzy  he  even  open- 
ed the  window,  and  publicly  begged  pardon  for  the  regicide. 
When  he  was  acquainted,  in  the  course  of  his  recovery,  with 
what  he  had  said  in  his  illness,  he  was  ready  to  die  with 
grief.  This  anecdote  I  did  not  choose  to  reveal  during  his 
life  time.  I  saw  him  a  little  time  before  his  death,  and  I 
think  I  can  safely  affirm,  that,  so  far  from  killing  Charles 
XII.,  he  would  have  suffered  a  thousand  deaths  could  he 
have  saved  his  life.  Had  he  been  guilty  of  such  a  crime,  it 
must  have  been  to  have  served  some  prince,  who,  no  doubt, 
would  have  liberally  rewarded  him ;  but  he  died  in  France 
extremely  poor,  and  even  stood  in  need  of  assistance  from 
myself.  If  these  reasons  are  not  sufficient,  let  it  be  consi-x 
dered,  that  the  ball  by  which  Charles  fell  could  not  enter 
into  a  pistol,  and  that  Siquier  could  not  have  executed  this 
detestable  crime  but  with  a  pistol  concealed  under  his 
clothes. 

After  the  death  of  the  king,  the  siege  of  Frederickshall 
was  raised ;  every  thing  was  changed  in  the  government. 
The  Swedes,  more  oppressed  than  flattered  by  the  glory  of 
their  prince,  lost  no  time  in  concluding  a  peace  with  their 
enemies,  and  suppressing  that  absolute  power  which  Baron 


276  HISTORY  OF  CHARLES  XII. 


de  Gortz  had  made  them  feel  to  excess.  The  states  freely 
elected  the  sister  of  Charles  XII.  for  their  queen,  and  obliged 
her,  by  a  solemn  act,  to  renounce  all  hereaitary  right  to  the 
crown,  in  order  that  she  should  only  hold  it  by  the  suffrages 
of  the  nation.  She  promised,  with  reiterated  oaths,  that 
she  would  never  attempt  to  restore  arbitrary  authority,  and 
at  last,  sacrificing  the  love  of  royalty  to  conjugal  affection, 
yielded  the  crown  to  her  husband,  and  engaged  the  states  to 
elect  that  prince,  who  mounted  the  throne  on  the  same  con- 
ditions as  herself. 

The  Baron  de  Gortz,  being  seized  instantly  after  the  death 
of  Charles,  was  condemned  by  the  senate  of  Stockholm  to 
have  his  head  cut  off  at  the  foot  of  the  gallows  of  the  town ; 
an  example  of  revenge,  perhaps,  rather  than  of  justice,  and 
a  cruel  insult  to  the  memory  of  a  king  whom  Sweden  still 
admires. 


FINIS, 


